


MU33UM JAHOITAH 3HT Ml T3HIBAO 
HOTOHIH2 A W TA 



HOITD3JJOO noaAM-an3YM 



CABINET IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 

AT WASHINGTON 



IYERS-MASON COLLECTION 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 



OF THE 



BAILEY- MYERS - MASON 
FAMILIES 



776 to 1905 



*- ' ■ 



KEY TO A 

Cabinet of Heirlooms 

IN THE 

NATIONAL MUSEUM 

WASHINGTON 



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PRIVATELY 

PRINTED 

1908 



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COPYRIGHT. 1908 
BY MRS. JULIAN -JAMES 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

APR 30 1W9 

CtpyriiTn! tntry 



CLA(SS 



XXc. No. 

2. 






CONTENTS 

Foreword 7 

Sketch of the Life of Major M. Myers, 1776-1870 9 

Sketch of the Life of Charlotte Bailey, Wife of Major Myers 17 
Record of Children and Grandchildren of Charlotte Bailey 

and Major Myers 22 

Sketch of the Life of Theodorus Bailey Myers, 1821-1899 . . 23 
Catalina Juliana Mason, Afterward Mrs. Theodorus Bailey 

Myers, 1824-1905 37 

Sketch of the Life of Theodorus Bailey Myers Mason, 

Lieutenant Commander United States Navy, 1849-1899 . . 59 

Early Recollections of Cassie Mason Myers Julian-James . 75 

Julian-James, 1844-1870 107 

Rear-Admiral Theodorus Bailey 124 



Catalogue to the Cabinet of Heirlooms at the National 

Museum, Washington 129 

The Myers-Mason Collection 131 

Major M. Myers 133 

Theodorus Bailey Myers 133 

Mrs. Theodorus Bailey Myers 134 

Lieutenant-Commander Theodorus Bailey Myers Mason . . 136 

Cassie Mason Myers Julian-James 137 

Julian James 138 

Sidney Mason 139 

Mrs. Sidney Mason, ist 140 

Alfonso Sidney Mason 14° 

Don Jose Dorado and His Wife 141 

Mrs. Sidney Mason, 2D . . . 141 

Theodorus Bailey, United States Senator 14- 

Theodorus Bailey, Rear-Admiral, United States Navy ... 142 






INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS 

Cabinet in the National Museum at Washington — 

Myers-Mason Collection Frontispiece 

The Ford, Rock Creek Park, Washington 7 

Major Myers 8 

Major Myers 16 

Myers Monument, Vale Cemetery, Schenectady, New York . 16 

Home at Kinderhook, New York 16 

Charlotte Bailey — Mrs. Myers 16 

Judge William Bailey 18 

Bailey Home, Plattsburgh, New York 20 

Colonel Theodorus Bailey Myers 22 

Library of Theodorus Bailey Myers, 4 West Thirty-fourth 

Street, New York 28 

Elm Spring, Westchester County, New York 30 

Mr. Myer's Bedroom, 4 West Thirty-fourth Street, New York 32 

Catalina Juliana Mason — Mrs. Theodorus Bailey Myers . . 36 

Theodorus Bailey Myers 40 

Mrs. Sidney Mason 44 

Living Room, 4 West Thirty-fourth Street, New York ... 46 

Drawing-room, 4 West Thirty-fourth Street, New York ... 48 
Sitting-room of Mrs. Julian-James, 4 West Thirty-fourth 

Street, New York 48 

Drawing Room, 1602 Twentieth Street, Washington .... 50 

Mrs. Theodorus Myers and Her Little Dog "Yoko" 52 

Hall, 1602 Twentieth Street, Washington 52 

Mrs. Myers' Bed Room, 4 West Thirty-fourth Street, New 

York 54 

Tea Room, 1602 Twentieth Street, Washington 58 

1602 and 1606 Twentieth Street, Washington 58 

Theodorus Bailey Myers Mason, Lieutenant Commander, 

United States Navy 58 

Mrs. Theodorus Bailey Myers Mason 68 

The Anchorage, Saugerties-on-Hudson, Summer Home of 

Lieutenant-Commander and Mrs. Mason 72 



Bookplate of the Collection of Theodorus Bailey Myers in 
the New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox and Tilden 

Foundations 74 

Mrs. Myers — Mrs. Julian - James — Mrs. Theodorus Bailey 

Myers Mason 74 

Mrs. Julian-James 74 

Theodore and Cassie 76 

Julian James Io6 

Mrs. Julian-James >°8 

Mr. and Mrs. Julian-James. Cragsidk. Cold Spring-on -Hudson iij 

Sidney Mason "- 

John Mason II2 

Marequita Benito Dorado— Mrs. Sidney Mason 114 

Sidney Alfonso Mason "4 

Don Jose Dorado "6 

Catherine Gartz Robb— Mrs. Sidney Mason 116 

Home of Sidney Mason, 130 Fifth Avenue, New York .... 11S 
The Sleighing Party— Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Mason, Mr. and 

Mrs. Theodorus Bailey Myers and Theodore 120 

Theodorus Bailey 122 

Rear-Admiral Theodorus Bailey 124 

Facsimile of Letter from Henry Yates Satterlee, First Bishop 

of Washington, to Mrs. Julian-James 128 

"The Cathedral Close — Peace Cross and Sundial"— Cathedral 

of St. Peter and St. Paul 128 



O H 01 3 H T 
HOT3HIHJAW .HRA1 «33fl3 NOOfl 



THE FORD 
ROCK CREEK PARK. WASHINGTON 



^\URING many delightful drives together in 
■^"^ Rock Creek Park, Washington, when my 
cousin Kate (Mrs. Robert Trail Spence Lowell) 
was visiting me, we had such keen enjoyment in 
putting into permanent form the pleasant incidents 
contained in the following sketches. 

We are indebted for valuable assistance to 
our Aunt, Mrs. Thomas Reed Jackson, and her 
daughter Frances; to my sister-in-law, Edmonia 
Phelps Mason McClurg, to Mr. and Mrs. 
Bernard Mimmack and their daughter Katharine, 
to the late John Mason, to Helen Mason and 
to all other Cousins, to whom this book is 
affectionately dedicated. 

Cassie Mason Myers Julian-James 



villa PAX 

1602 Twentieth Street Northwest 

WASHINGTON 
1908. 



THESE SKETCHES, DESCRIBING 
THE OWNERS OF THE HEIR- 
LOOMS IN THE CABINET, WERE 
WRITTEN AT THE REQUEST OF 
THE LATE PAUL BECKWITH 
CURATOR OF THE NATIONAL 
MUSEUM, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
WHOSE EFFORTS WERE INSTRU- 
MENTAL IN ORGANIZING THE 
MUSEUM'S VALUABLE COLLECTION 



MAJOR MYERS 



an3YM noui 




■■H 



M 



SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

MAJOR M. MYERS 

1776-1870 

AJOR M. MYERS was born at Newport, Rhode 
Island, on May 1st, 1776, two months before the 
Declaration of Independence. His father was a man of 
fine education, speaking and writing most of the living 
languages. He was a friend of the Rev. Dr. Ezra 
Styles, afterward President of Yale College. In 
1777 he died, leaving a widow and several children. 
Thus early left fatherless, the subject of this sketch 
soon showed evidence of possessing marked character 
and ability. In early manhood his life was passed in 
successful business pursuits in New York and Rich- 
mond, Virginia, where he formed friendships with the 
distinguished men of his day— Aaron Burr, De Witt 
Clinton, Alexander Hamilton, Brockholst Livingston, 
General Morgan Lewis and others. 

He witnessed a memorable event in our history on 
April 30, 1789, when, a boy of thirteen, he stood in 
the dense crowd before the old City Hall on Wall 
Street, New York. In the words of one of his 
letters he says: "I recollect seeing Chancellor 



Livingston administer the oath of office to General 
Washington on a Bible which is still in a state of 
good preservation and in the possession of St. John's 
Masonic Lodge, No. 1, New York, where it is held as 
a relic of times past." 

Mr. Myers was an eloquent and magnetic speaker, 
and in both early and mature life he was often 
called upon to address public meetings. 

But his tastes inclined him to a military life, for 
which his force of character, strong will and charm- 
ing personality well fitted him. 

The West Point Military Academy was not then in 
existence, but at the suggestion of his friend, 
Governor D. D. Tompkins, Mr. Myers studied 
military tactics with Colonel de la Croix, a French 
officer who had served under Napoleon. Mr. Myers 
had also six years practical experience in serving in 
the New York Militia. In the regiment of Colonel 
Van Buren he attained the rank of Senior Captain 
and of Acting Major. It is said that he drilled his 
men so thoroughly that, much to his annoyance, 
they were continually taken from him and placed in 
other companies and raw recruits substituted. 

In 1812 the storm of war was gathering and Mr. 
Myers accepted a Captain's commission in the 
regular army and was assigned to the 13th Regiment 
of United States Infantry, commanded by Colonel 
Peter P. Schuyler. In one of his letters to his son 
Major Myers writes, "I buckled on my sword to 

io 



advance to my station at Charlotte, on Lake 
Champlain, to begin duty as one of the defenders 
of my country." 

This sword may now be seen in the National 
Museum, Washington, D. C, and on its broad leather 
belt are traces of blood from a wound which nearly 
cost him his life. In after years, this sword always 
hung over his bed, and his daughter, Kate, who 
lived with him until his death, relates how one 
night a false alarm of burglars aroused the old 
gentleman, who appeared at his door, his sword 
over his shoulder, his red silk night cap on his 
head, his dark eyes blazing— a formidable figure. 

In the Museum is also a mahogany, brass -bound 
writing desk, carried throughout the war, the gift 
of his wife's uncle, Theodorus Bailey, who was 
United States Senator in 1803, and Postmaster of 
New York for twenty-five years. 

A detailed account of the stirring personal 
experiences which followed are contained in a series 
of letters written in his declining years at his son's 
request. They are preserved in pamphlet form under 
the title of "Reminiscences, 1812-1814, by Major M. 
Myers, 13th Infantry, United States Army," and are 
to be found in the Congressional Library, Washington, 
D. C; the Boston Public Library, and in the New 
York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden 
Foundation. In the latter they are contained in the 
valuable collection of Americana made by Major 

ii 



Myers' son, Colonel Theodoras Bailey Myers, of New 
York, and presented to the New York Public Library 
by Colonel Myers' widow, daughter and daughter-in- 
law, in memory of him and of his son, Theodoras 
Bailey Myers Mason, Lieutenant Commander, United 
States Navy. 

At the successful engagement with the British at 
Crysler's Field, on the Niagara Frontier, Major 
Myers was so severely wounded that his life was 
despaired of. Thirty splinters were removed from his 
shoulder, and he was carried to Plattsburgh on a 
horse led by his faithful servant, William Williams, 
who had been searching for his master among the 
dead. He was taken to the house of Dr. Mann, 
where he remained for four months, and where he 
met a charming young girl, Miss Charlotte Bailey, 
who soon after became his wife. She was a daughter 
of Judge William ■ Bailey, of Plattsburgh, and sister 
of Theodoras Bailey, afterward Rear Admiral in the 
United States Navy, and distinguished in the Civil 
War. 

At the close of the War of 1812 the Army was 
reduced to a Peace Establishment, and all those who 
had been wounded or disabled were honorably 
discharged, "reversing," as says one of Major 
Myers' letters, "common sense and common justice," 
for those who had been wounded or disabled "should 
have been retained to form skeleton regiments which 
could at any time be filled with recruits." 

12 



After a few years devoted to successful com- 
mercial pursuits, Major Myers was elected a member 
of the New York State assembly in 1828, to which 
he was five times re-elected. 

While a member of the New York Legislature 
Mr. Myers won the lasting gratitude of the Quakers 
of his State ; for through his efforts was secured to 
them the right to decline all military service, which 
had hitherto been compulsory for all citizens regard- 
less of their religious convictions. 

A diagram of the House of Representatives, 1832, 
shows Mr. Myers' seat in the front row first at the 
left of the middle aisle, directly in front of the 
Speaker of the House, and his name is entered as 
Chairman of the "Committee on Militia and the 
Public Defense." 

He bought Judge Vanderpoel's fine country place 
at Kinderhook, about twenty miles south of Albany, 
and removed with his family to that village, which 
was also the home of Martin Van Buren. Mr. Myers 
was elected President of the village, and in that 
capacity it was his pleasant duty to receive and 
address Martin Van Buren on his return at the end 
of his term as President of the United States. 

Mr. Myers was a very eminent and enthusiastic 
Freemason, and even in his latter years he came 
regularly to New York to attend the annual meetings 
of the Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted 
Masons of the State of New York. 

'3 



He was initiated as a Master Mason in Phoenix 
Lodge, May, 1795, and he was one of the Charter 
members of Washington Lodge, No. 21. It is in 
recognition of this fact that his grandson, William 
Myers Hoes, of New York, has been elected an 
honorary member of Washington Lodge, No. 21. 
Mr. Hoes is a brother of Pierre Van Buren Hoes, 
the author of many charming biographical sketches. 

The following interesting information is contained 
in a letter dated July 29, 1907, written by one of 
Major Myers' sons-in-law, also an eminent Mason, 
Edgar M. Jenkins, of Schenectady, New York, who 
married his daughter, Frances. 

He says: "In 1849 there was a split in the 
Grand Lodge of the State of New York, a few 
lodges seceding and forming another Grand Lodge, 
of which your grandfather was Grand Master in 
1852 3-4 5 and 6. In 1858 the breach was healed 
and by the terms of reunion the Grand officers of 
the seceding Grand Lodge were entitled to hold their 
rank and titles — so that he was Past Grand Master 
of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York." 

After the death of his wife, in 1848, Major 
Myers removed with his family to Schenectady, New 
York, of which city he was soon after elected Mayor. 

His daughter, Kate, remained with him until his 
death, in 1870, in the ninety-fifth year of his age. 

Major Myers was universally respected and admired 
by those who came in contact with him during his 

14 



long life, covering nearly all of the first century of 
our Republic. 

Strangers were at once impressed by the dignity 
and charm of his old-time manners and conversation ; 
and those who knew him well, and with whom he 
was associated in business, testified to his absolute 
integrity, his unflinching courage in the face of 
difficulties, from which his long life was not exempt, 
and to his kindness of heart. A story of distress 
never failed to awaken his sympathy. His son, 
Sydney, when a fun-loving boy, dressed himself in his 
sister's clothes, with bonnet and veil, and came to 
his father with a tale of woe. As tears were 
moistening the old gentleman's eyes, and his hand 
was moving toward his pocket, he suddenly exclaimed, 
"You rascal!" and marched with dignity out of the 
room. 

Major Myers enjoyed society both at home and 
at Richfield Springs, to which resort he went with 
his daughters in summer. One of them recalls the 
fact that often in a roomful of people, other talk 
gradually ceased, every one choosing to listen to her 
father, whose low cultivated voice, fine eyes and 
expressive features added charm to his interesting 
conversation. 

The following words were written by him in 
1854, in his seventy-ninth year: "I have had my 
full share of misfortunes and prosperity, sorrows and 
joys, but have never suffered misfortune to dampen 

15 



my energies, nor prosperity to elate me unreasonably ; 
but have always submitted to all changes as the will 
of kind Providence operating for my good, here and 
hereafter, as I consider a general run of prosperity, 
unalloyed by misfortune, tends to lessen our depend- 
ence on the protection of Divine Providence, and 
leading us to believe that all results from our own 
wisdom, calculation and exertions, which I consider 
erroneous, believing that all results from the Great 
Architect, the universal Parent and Protector of all 
Mankind." 

A Grand Old Man, whose inspiring example 
should not perish with the lives of the few who 
now remember him. Early in life he adopted as his 
motto, "Do right and fear not." 

Major Myers is buried in the beautiful family 
plot in Vale Cemetery, Schenectady, New York, and his 
tomb bears the names of his wife and ten children. 
The monument was designed by his son-in-law, 
Thomas Reed Jackson, an eminent architect of New 
York, husband of his daughter, Charlotte. 

There exist two portraits of Major Myers. A 
miniature painted on ivory, by Tisdale, in 1799. 
Age, 22 years. 

Portrait painted in oil, by Jarvis, January, 1810. 
Captain of Infantry, Acting Major, United States 
Army. Age, 33 years. 



16 






MAJOR MYERS 



2H3VM HOIAM 



MYERS MONUMENT 

VALE CEMETERY 

SCHENECTADY. NEW YORK 



HOME AT KINDERHOOK. NEW YORK 



TH3MUMOM 3H3YM 

YR3T3M33 3J AV 

NflOV W3M ,YaAT33K3H0a 



«HOV W3H .«OOHH3aHIK TA 3MOH 



CHARLOTTE BAILEY 
MRS. MYERS 



Y3JIA8 3TTOJHAH3 
8fl3YM .aflM 



SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

CHARLOTTE BAILEY 

WIFE OF MAJOR MYERS 

Born in Pittsburgh, New York, October 12, 1796 

Married in Pittsburgh, January 24, 1814 

Died in New York City, February 15, 1848 

/CHARLOTTE was the daughter of Judge William 
^-^ Bailey and his wife Hannah Hagerman, both of 
Poughkeepsie, New York. Her father was a son of 
Colonel John Bailey of Dutchess County, New York. 
When a young man he engaged in business in New 
York City. He first visited Lake Champlain in 1786. 
He was one of the Associate Justices of the Clinton 
Common Pleas in 1789 and was appointed first Judge 
of the County, in 1806, and elected a member of the 
Assembly in 1803 and again in 1806. By his first wife, 
Hannah Hagerman, he had two daughters, Catherine, 
who married Major John Walworth; and Charlotte, who 
married Captain Myers, both officers of the famous 
13th Infantry and who fought in the Battles of 1812- 
1814. By his second wife, Phoebe, daughter of Captain 
Nathaniel Piatt, he had a large family. He bought a 
wide extent of land at Chateaugay, then a part of 
Clinton County, supposed to be rich in ore, water 

'7 



power and other attractions, and in 1800 took up his 
residence there, a veritable life in the wilderness. In 
1811 he removed with his growing family to Platts- 
burgh, where he bought a fine estate which remained in 
the family until recent years. The present occupants 
think the Bailey family a very numerous one, so many 
of its members journey to see their ancestral home— a 
stone colonial house with an avenue of fine trees and 
extensive grounds. Charlotte's earliest recollections 
must have centered about Chateaugay and the region 
where Lake Champlain stretches its widest across to 
Vermont, the Green Mountains, and the Adirondacks 
bound the view; a land lovely in nature's most gracious 
charms and replete with memories of the Indians 
and the early French settlers. As she grew older 
she pursued her studies in Montreal. Like all 
the Bailey family Charlotte was distinguished by 
refinement of feeling and manners and tender affec- 
tion for her kindred ; of slender build and medium 
height, she had soft brown hair, delicate features and 
remarkably fine eyes ; modest and dainty, kindly and 
good, she returned from school in the bud of young 
womanhood to find Plattsburgh astir with war prepara- 
tions, gay with uniforms, the sound of the bugle, the 
fife and the drum. The relatives said, "It will never 
do to have that young girl remain in Plattsburgh with 
all these officers about, she must be sent into the 
country." So she set off to visit at the house of her 
kinsman, Doctor Mann, where it so happened that a 

18 



JUDGE WILLIAM BAILEY 



Y3JIAS MAIJJIW 300UI 



wounded officer was being cared for, Captain Myers ; 
severely wounded at Crysler's Field, in his shoulder 
from which thirty splinters were taken, he barely 
recovered after four months. He was considered a 
fascinating man ; at any rate he proved superior to the 
united forces at Plattsburg and after a romantic court- 
ship their marriage followed, on January 24th, 1814, in 
the beautiful old homestead, where a year later their 
first child, a daughter, was born. By inheritance the 
possessor of a fine mind and a lovely personality, 
trained to self-reliance and fortitude, Charlotte early 
developed a truly lovable character ; married before she 
was eighteen to a man twenty years her senior, she 
became the mother of ten children— five daughters 
and five sons. Her life must have been a busy one ; 
her home was certainly a happy one, where her many 
kindred loved to gather. Her oldest daughter remem- 
bered her at the age of twenty-four in a pearl 
colored satin dress, low neck with short puffed sleeves 
and the waist only a finger deep, and in dainty little 
muslin inset with tucks and lace insertions, which were 
long preserved in the family. 

Her trinkets of topaz and pearl ; her beautiful 
watch, chain and seals, and her necklace of fine 
wrought gold and enamel are treasured by her grand- 
daughter Frances. At the close of the war in which he 
honorably served, Major Myers returned to private 
life in New York City, where seven of their children 
were born. Letters written to him by his wife 

19 



during his absences in Albany, attending the sitting 
of the Legislature, to which he was six times elected 
a member, give glimpses of her home life; they 
always say "the children and servants are behaving 
well," showing she knew how to manage both. Her 
house was beautifully furnished, for those days, with 
old fashioned mahogany, fine old bureaus and glasses, 
carved high post bedsteads with valance and looped 
curtains, wardrobes with trays drawing out for 
dresses, quaint sofas and spindle legged card tables, 
claw foot pier table and work table. There came 
frequently to visit her, her aunt Kent, wife of the 
Chancellor ; her cousin Mrs. Arthur Bronson, daughter 
of General Theodorus Bailey, who lived near the 
Battery, and the Walworths and her many brothers 
and sisters ; the Naval hero, later Rear Admiral 
Bailey ; Nathaniel, and William who died at her 
house, and James Bailey, with all of whom she was 
a great favorite. Sunday night teas were delightful 
re-unions around the old mahogany table, with its 
abundant array of silver and beautiful gold lined 
china. Back to her girlhood's home in Plattsburgh 
she occasionally took her little ones in summer time. 
Some years later she and her husband bought the 
residence of Judge Vanderpoel in the village of 
Kinderhook, where the two youngest children were 
born ; perhaps these were the happiest years ; she 
the lovely center of her home, adored by her family 
and friends, sought after, looked up to, valued and 

20 



BAILEY HOME 
PLATTSBUHGH. NEW YORK 



3MOH Y3JIAB 

xnov W3M .HORuaeTTAjq 



esteemed. She was heard to say that she felt very 

thankful, all her ten children were under her roof, 

perfect in mind and body. Here her eldest daughter, 

Henrietta, was married to Mr. Peter S. Hoes, nephew 

of ex-President Van Buren, in the splendor of an 

evening of early September when an aurora borealis 

lighted up the skies and made the festive scene still 

more brilliant. Shortly after came a great sorrow, 

the first real break, the tidings of the sudden death, 

at Farmington, Illinois, of the oldest son, William, a 

young lawyer of great promise, and a devoted son. 

Two years after this her sixth child, a daughter, 

Louisa, died ; and perhaps the dear Lord saw that 

she was tired with life's journey, for on February 

15th, 1848, He called her to her rest in the fifty-second 

year of her age. Her grave is in Vale Cemetery, 

Schenectady, New York, near that of her husband, five 

of her children and a grand-daughter, Charlotte 

Louise Jackson. 

Frances Alice Jackson 



21 



The Children and Grandchildren of Charlotte Bailey 
and Major Myers were : 

Henrietta ^ William Myers Hoes 

married Peter S. Hoes [ Pierre Van Buren Hoes 



William Bailey 

Catherine altik 

Thhodorus Bailey 

married CaTalina Mason 



Son 
Ernest P. Hoes 



f Theodorus Bailey Myers Mason 
( Cassie Mason Myers Julian James 



Charlotte Bailey , „. , T . , . 

. ,„ _ „ f Charlotte Louise Jackson 

married Thomas R. Jackson < ., _ ; 

( trances Alice Jacksou 

Maria Louisa 

Algernon Sydney 

married Caroline Chappell ■[ Kate Bailey Myers Lowell 

Son 
Robert Traill Spence Lowell 
Edward Van Wyck 

Charles William 

Frances married Edgar M. Jenkins 

With the passing on to the Eternal Home of Miss 
Catherine Altie Myers, the name of Myers died, as 
did that of Mason in the case of Lieutenant-Com- 
mander Theodorus Bailey Myers Mason. 



22 



COLONEL THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS 



2H3YM Y3JIA8 3UB0003HT J3MOJOO 



SKETCH OF THE LIEE OF 

THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS 

182I-I8S8 

COLONEL THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS was born 
in the city of New York on Canal Street, Decem- 
ber 13, 1821. 

His father, Major M. Myers, gained his military 
title, as an officer in the United States Army in the 
War of 1812. 

His mother, Charlotte Bailey, of Plattsburgh, 
New York, was a daughter of Judge William Bailey, 
neice to Theodorus Bailey, who was United States 
Senator in 1803, and Postmaster of New York for 
twenty-five years. She was sister to Theodorus Bailey, 
afterwards Rear-Admiral in the United States Navy 
and distinguished at the taking of New Orleans in 
the Civil War ; and it was for these two uncles that 
the subject of this sketch was named. 

Mr. Myers entered the Columbia Grammar School 
and later attended the Kinderhook Academy where 
the family country place was situated in the neighbor- 
hood of Lindenwald the home of Martin Van Buren. 
He studied law in the offices of Judge James 
Vanderpoel, Judge John L. Mason and Francis S. 

23 



Marbury, and was admitted to practice in 1842, on 
his twenty-first birthday. In his early years he spent 
much of his time with his life long friends, the 
Livingstons, at Tivoli, their beautiful estate on the 
Hudson, the home of Chancellor Livingston and his sons, 
now spoken of in the family as the H — the plan of 
the house forming the letter H. Colonel Myers' legal 
activity was largely confined to the business matters 
of the several corporations of which he was a member. 

His services were always freely given to the 
charitable societies in which he was interested,— notably 
the Institution for the Blind, on whose board he sat for 
thirty years, and the Woman's Hospital, on the Board 
of which he formed his long and intimate friendship 
with Thomas Addis Emmet, M. D., whose name is 
forever associated with his as collectors of rare and 
valuable Americana, since presented to the New York 
Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. 

In 1847 he married the only daughter of Sidney 
Mason, a retired West Indian merchant, and first United 
States Consul to Porto Rico, whose home was at No. 3 
College Place, in sight of the grounds of Columbia 
College. He afterward removed to 132 Fifth Avenue, 
next to the corner of 18th Street, where Colonel Myers' 
son and daughter were born. 

The Son, Theodorus Bailey Myers, who later 
became Lieutenant Commander in the United States 
Navy, added the name of Mason to his own at the 
request of his grandfather, who had lost his only son, 

24 



Alphonso Sidney, when a child. The daughter, 
Cassie Mason, afterward became Mrs. Julian-James. 
Mr. Myers was associated in business with his father- 
in-law, Mr. Mason, in the Sixth Avenue horse rail- 
way, the first to be established in New York. As 
a matter of fact, the cars were drawn in those early 
days not by horses but by mules. Mr. Mason was 
President of this company and was succeeded in the 
office by Mr. Myers. It was an emergency in the 
affairs of this business that recalled Colonel Myers 
from service in the Civil War, to which he and his 
friends, Le Grand Cannon and General Rathbone, were 
among the first to volunteer. Inheriting strong military 
tastes, it was always a matter of regret to Mr. 
Myers that he had been obliged to refuse the early 
offer of an appointment to West Point, but the death 
of his elder brother, William, made his presence 
required at home. 

He served on the staff of Governor Silas Wright — 
hence his title of Colonel by which he was so well 
known to his friends. 

When the Civil War broke out, he joined the 
12th New York Militia, April 17, 1861. There was no 
time to wait for the making of a uniform, and Mr. 
Myers hurriedly left home in a civilian coat, to which 
were sewed the eagles and buttons now with his sword 
in the cabinet of heirlooms at the National Museum. 
Colonel Myers served later on the staffs of General 
Benjamin F. Butler and of General Wool. 

25 



While engaged in recruiting duty he used a quaint 
poster characteristic of the times, bearing the picture 
of a ship under full sail, and on which his name 
appears. One of these is in the collection of posters at 
the Congressional Library. 

On the steamer Baltic Colonel Myers assumed 
temporarily the position of quartermaster in charge 
of supplies intended for Fort Sumter. 

Returning to civil life, his following years were 
pleasantly and profitably filled with legal and business 
activities, the pleasures of a congenial domestic life, an 
active interest in charities, literary pursuits, the collect- 
ing of manuscripts and curios, and a keen interest in 
sports. Mr. Myers was one of the first members of 
the New York Yacht Club, and an excellent whip. 
His tandem cart was one of the first seen in New 
York and was much remarked. 

He was a member of the Century and Union Clubs 
and of the St. Nicholas and Holland Societies. 

His daughter well remembers his pleasure each 
year on receiving the invitation on orange colored 
paper for the St. Nicholas Society's Annual Dinner. 
From this banquet he returned home with his Dutch 
pipes invariably intact — the accepted guarantee of due 
sobriety — and the children always claimed them with 
delight. He was witty and amusing in conversation, 
and was always a welcome arrival at his clubs, where 
a circle soon gathered round him to listen to his pun- 
gent and entertaining comments on the events of the 

26 



day with which his varied interests and large acquaint- 
ance made him so familiar. He was Vice-President of 
the Geographical Society which he helped to found, a 
member of the Historical Society and one of the Com- 
missioners of the New York City Fire Department, and 
Trustees and awarders of the Bennett Medal for 
bravery. One of these medals, together with a Report 
of the Fire Department bearing Colonel Myers' name, 
are to be seen in the case at the National Museum. 
Owing largely to his efforts the hand brigade so char- 
acteristic a feature of old New York was replaced by 
the use of horses. 

He was actively interested in the establishment of 
a fireman's library to which he contributed many 
volumes. 

In his home at number 4 West 34th Street, a site 
now covered by the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, were 
gathered in an artistic and beautiful library his valuable 
collection of books and manuscripts. There were more 
than three thousand volumes relating to early American 
History as well as thirteen volumes of manuscript, 
including autograph letters of every signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, eighteen letters of Wash- 
ington, and autograph letters from all the Governors of 
New York from the earliest Colonial Governors to 
Theodore Roosevelt, making one of the most valuable 
collections of manuscripts in the world. Mr. Myers 
often observed that "Anyone could buy bindings, but," 
he added, "my books will be my tombstone." 

27 



After Mr. Myers' death, and that of his son, this 
unique collection was given to the New York Public 
Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations by Mr. 
Myers' widow, daughter and daughter-in-law as a 
memorial. 

Mr. Myers' library on 34th Street contained also 
much interesting antique furniture, stained glass win- 
dows from Popingworth House, Lewes, England, Holland 
tiles, ceramics, engravings and paintings, and the 
original survey by Washington of Mount Vernon, 
quaintly framed. 

A large circle of friends, many of them fellow 
members of the Century Club, enjoyed and appreciated 
these treasures, as well as his genial hospitality with 
that of his wife and daughter. Among these friends 
who often dined at his table were Samuel J. Tilden and 
Chester A. Arthur, both before and during the time of 
the latter's office as Vice-President, and later President, 
of the United States. 

Mr. Myers was very fond of reading poetry, and 
many of his favorites he knew by heart. He could 
quote Owen Meredith's "Lucille" from beginning to 
end, and he used to say to his daughter, " Cassie, 
what you don't find in the Bible, you'll find in 
Lucille." With his friend from boyhood, William 
Allen Butler, he frequently corresponded in verse. 
Mr. Butler often visited Mr. Myers at his country 
place, Elm Spring, and here read the manuscript of 
his witty and amusing verses "Nothing to Wear," 

28 



4 WEST THIRTY r OU BTH STRtti 



NEW YORK 



2H3YM Y3JIA8 aunoar' HT lO YHAR8IJ 

T33HTZ HTflUO* 'THIHT T83W » 

xHOY W3M 



which were a charming satire on the belles of the '50's, 
and were quoted throughout the length and breadth of 
the land as generally as was Bret Harte's "Heathen 
Chinee" some years later. 

Colonel Myers often visited Washington — from the 
early days when he and his bride were entertained at 
dinner at the old Van Ness house, still an interesting 
landmark. 

In later times, when their son was social aide to 
General Grant at the White House, as well as to 
several other Presidents, he and Mrs. Myers went 
often to the Capital. Not long before his death he 
selected land on Twentieth and Q Streets, facing 
Connecticut Avenue, for houses for his son and 
daughter. 

In Washington Mr. Myers made many friends in 
the Diplomatic Corps, whom he delighted to entertain 
in his New York home and whose acquaintance was 
pleasantly renewed on his several visits to Europe. 
When accompanied abroad by his wife and daughter 
their knowledge of foreign languages increased the 
charm of travel and added to their enjoyment of 
foreign society composed of the distinguished men and 
women of the day. 

Colonel Myers was well known in Charleston where 
he had many friends. He visited the city annually as a 
director of the South Carolina Railway. He never lost 
an opportunity to add to his collection, and it was here 
that he was able to purchase the papers of General 

29 



Morgan, of Revolutionary fame, which form so important 
a volume of his manuscripts. 

Colonel Myers' country home, in sight of Kings- 
bridge, now overlooking Van Cortlandt Park, was a 
spacious stone mansion formerly in possession of the Van 
Cortlandt family and called Van Cortlandt on the Hill, 
but known to his friends as Elm Spring. Though now 
included in the City of New York it was then in a 
measure isolated, and Mr. Myers was persuaded by his 
friends Cyrus Field and William E. Dodge to build two 
cottages on his land, in which they lived for several years. 

Mr. Myers was fond of nature and often said that 
he was never so happy as when smoking a good cigar 
and watching his men build a stone wall for which he 
himself helped to select the stones with as much care 
as if working on a mosaic. His presence, full of an 
unusual charm and dignity, combined with a winning 
simplicity of manner, always inspired the respect of 
those who served him, and his farmer, Ryan, had no 
difficulty at mowing time in securing laborers, for 
Colonel Myers was known to be "kind to man and 
beast," and indeed he often remarked that it gave him 
"more pleasure to give than to receive." He liked to 
watch the men at work in the fields wearing the red 
flannel shirts and straw hats with black ribbons with 
which he presented them, thus gratifying them, and at 
the same time his own love for the picturesque ; and 
at noon he always had prepared for them large pails of 
Shandygaft. Much of the choice stock still seen in 

30 



ELM SPRING 
WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK 



oniRqe MJ3 

XHOY W3M .YTMUOO HJTgJHOTeSW 



Westchester County and known as blanket cattle of the 
Holstein breed came originally from two calves which 
were a gift to Colonel Myers from Baron Holstein, 
whom he knew when in the German Diplomatic Corps 
at Washington. The Baron afterward became Minister 
to Paris, and always remained a power behind the 
German throne. 

Colonel Myers often drove tandem to town with his 
horses, Lawyer and Doctor. The distance to the City 
Hall was thirteen miles over the old Kingsbridge and 
Bloomingdale roads. Mr. Myers named the post office 
nearest his home, then in Warner's country store, 
Mosholu, which name is still retained for the Putnam 
Railroad station. Many pets were owned and delighted 
in by the children, among them a large Newfound- 
land dog named Yorpy, a collie named Buster, and a 
pair of goats for young Theodore's goat cart. In 
this he often drove out with his little sister, 
to their great pride and joy. There was on the 
place a large turkey of erratic habits which was con- 
sidered crazy, and Mr. Myers told the children that 
perhaps it became so from thinking itself one of the 
peacocks and trying to spread his tail like them. 
Sometimes Mr. Myers would place himself in the Grand- 
father's Chair— "The Seat of History"— and allowing 
his children to perch on either wing, delighted them 
and their little friends with original tales of an Indian 
Chief named Possumfat and his squaw Hominy, in this 
wise giving them their first lessons in Americana. 

3< 



Between his daughter and himself there existed 
always a delightful sympathy and Camaraderie, and his 
letters to his wife and daughter, whom he addressed as 
"his partners," show the charm of his personality and 
his love of fun. His handwriting, full of distinc- 
tion, but somewhat difficult to read, always repaid 
the effort to do so, and his interesting letters to his 
son, a Naval officer, often called by his profession to 
distant parts of the world, show great knowledge of 
events, past and present. 

In his later years Colonel Myers passed many of 
his summers between Saratoga, Sharon Springs and 
Newport. He was very fond of the Berkshires and 
was a member of the Lenox Club. 

Colonel Myers' foresight as to the future value of 
real estate both in Washington and New York was 
remarkable, and his judgment was excellent; but 
disliking much in modern business methods and 
despising political scheming, he declined many lucrative 
posts for which his friends wished to nominate him, 
and preferred to pass his declining years in his library, 
enjoying society outside his home through the eyes of 
his children and the circle which his wife and they 
brought within it. 

Mr. Myers was a welcome contributor to the higher 
class of magazines, he, with Dr. Emmet and Mr. 
Hoffman, formed a club whose object was the engrav- 
ing on steel of protraits of the eminent men connected 
with the early history of the country. The work of the 

3 2 



MR. MYERS' BED ROOM 

* WEST THIRTY - FOURTH STREET 

NEW YORK 



MOOH 038 '3H3YM ,HM 
TJ3HT2 HTHU01-YTBIHT T23W 
HHOt WJH 



club was privately distributed. He also re-published 
many old pamphlets which he liked to give to his 
friends. Many of these brochures bear on the cover 
his cypher, the gracefully interlaced initials T. B. M. 

To the sorrow of his family, including his brothers 
and sisters, whose joys and sorrows he had always 
made his own, Colonel Myers' health began to fail, and he 
and his wife and daughter went to the South of France 
and passed the winter of 1886-87 at Cannes. It was at 
that time that the Riviera was visited by a severe 
earthquake, and after this disaster they sailed for home 
on the steamer Champagne. A few hours out from 
Havre, however, the steamer was run down in a fog 
and wrecked. 

All the passengers were taken off on a sailing vessel 
which they crowded so full that they had to remain 
standing during the ten hours required to land them. 

Mr. Myers and his family were among the last to 
leave the ship, for as his daughter said, "My father 
would not leave until all the emigrant women and 
children were ashore, and we would not leave him." 

Arriving at last safe in New York Colonel and Mrs. 
Myers and Mrs. Julian -James passed the winter at the 
Sherwood, corner of Fifth Avenue and 44th Street, 
during the building of their home in Washington. 
Here on the 16th of June, Mr. Myers succumbed to a 
stroke of apoplexy in the sixty-sixth year of his age. 

Colonel Myers as an officer of the Civil War would 
have been buried at Arlington but for the circumstance 

33 



that having refused pay, from feelings of patriotism 
for his country in distress, he had forfeited by law the 
right to receive a plot in the National Cemetery — a 
privilege he would have appreciated. 

His funeral services were held at St. Bartholomew's 
Church on Madison Avenue, of which he and his family 
had long been parishioners, and he was placed in the 
Mason family vault at Greenwood, New York. 

Colonel Myers' name appears also on his father's 
family monument at Vale Cemetery, Schenectady, with 
those of his brothers and sisters to whom he was 
devotedly attached. 

His sister Charlotte, wife of Thomas R. Jackson, 
writes: "My brother Theodorus was the fourth child 
of Major Myers and his wife, Charlotte Bailey, and 
was named for her uncle Theodorus Bailey. He and his 
older brother, William Bailey Myers, were great chums, 
both boys of promise and leaders of the younger 
children. On rainy days we children would resort to 
the top floor where there was a Museum and Cabinet 
of curiosities, and where we had all sorts of games 
and great fun, and Theodore was always the leader. In 
summer we used to go out to Bloomingdale where we 
played in a pretty little summer house and Theodore 
was the leader there too. When he was about ten 
years old our parents purchased a beautiful residence 
at Kinderhook of Judge Vanderpoel of Albany. There 
were ten acres, a lovely lawn, fruit, vegetable and 
flower garden and fine trees. The father, mother 

34 



and eight children, with all the furniture and 
servants, went up on the night boat to Stuyvesant 
arriving very early in the morning, and we then 
drove five miles to the lovely village of Kinderhook. 
This became the most joyous and happy home that 
can be imagined. The last two children were born 
there, and the children being of all ages and each 
having his or her companions made the house very 
lively. There were two saddle horses and afternoons 
the carriage, a barouche accommodating as many as 
could be carried, — a gay party, for one of the 
beautiful drives for which that country is celebrated. 
Every evening Henrietta, the oldest daughter, played 
on the piano and the children all danced until their 
bedtime. One of them danced the Fisher's Hornpipe. 
Theodore and those of a suitable age attended the 
Kinderhook Academy, at that time a very prominent 
school, pupils from New York and from Albany and 
other places boarding in the village. Theodore early 
developed those qualities that secured for him a 
reputation for good judgment, coolness, perseverence 
and pluck, always cheerful, never over-stepping the 
lines of inborn courtesy. During his school and 
academic years his brilliant intellect secured for him 
first honors and his essays were greatly eulogised. 
After finishing his course he, with his brother 
William, who was older and his chum, took up the 
study of the law with Judge Vanderpoel in a small 
office building resembling a summer house which he 

35 



retained in one corner of the lawn. Ex-President Van 
Buren was then living at Lindenwald, which attracted 
many distinguished people to the village. The 
Columbia County Bar was considered one of the 
most brilliant in the State. Thus early in life 
Theodore came in contact with men of superior 
attainments, friends of his father who helped to 
develop his own striking personality." 

These few lines are written by his loving sister, 
the last of that happy band of children and the only 
one left who can remember him in his boyhood. 

Charlotte Bailey Myers Jackson. 



36 



CATALINA JULIANA MASON 
MRS. THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS 



M03AM AUAIJIU AMIJATAO 
3A3YM Y3JIA8 3U fl oao3HT .e HM 



CATALINA JULIANA MASON 

AFTERWARD 

MRS. THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS 

1824-1905 

CATALINA JULIANA MASON was born on the 
Island of Porto Rico. 
Her father, Sidney Mason, an American of staunch 
Massachusetts descent, and a man of large business 
interests in the West Indies, had married one of the 
seven beautiful daughters of Don Jose de Rado, who 
had brought them, with his wife, from Cadiz, old 
Spain. Catalina was named for her aunt and god- 
mother, the Marchioness d'Esperanza, and was for a 
time the only child of her parents ; then came a 
charming little baby brother, named Alphonso. Their 
city home, at San Juan, Porto Rico, where the 
children were born, was near the city wall and the 
steps leading to the water, and overlooked the well 
known counting house of Mason & Thompson. In order 
to educate the children in his native land, Mr. Mason 
brought his family to the United States in one of 
his own sailing vessels, the cabin of which he had 
luxuriously fitted up for their use. 

37 



On their arrival at Baltimore, they were taken 
at once to Gloucester, Massachusetts, Mr. Mason's old 
home, but the wife soon succumbed to the rigor of 
the climate. A tomb is erected there to her memory 
and that of her little son, Alphonso, who died some 
time later, at the age of ten years, when at Peug- 
net's school, in New York. 

The little Spanish boy had become a great favorite 
with his companions. He spoke German, French and 
Spanish, as well as English, and he and his sister 
Catalina knew charming Spanish dances, which they 
danced together. In the case at the Museum are his 
dear little gray satin suit and large embroidered 
collar, the work of his mother's hands ; the satin 
jacket cut with short, Empire sleeves, in the quaint 
fashion of the day for little lads. Also, his sister's 
little white tambour embroidered dress, silk sash with 
Chinese figures, gold chain and sleeve bracelets of 
curious Spanish workmanship. All of these were worn 
by her on landing from the West Indies in the ship 
"Frances Jane," at Baltimore, and preserved for 
many years in an attic at Gloucester, not being suit- 
able for school or for the Northern climate. 

Her son, Lieutenant Commander Mason, laughingly 
named a scow on a stream at "The Anchorage," his 
summer house at Saugerties, the "Frances Jane." 

Catalina was placed at the convent on Mt. Bene- 
dict, at Charlestown, out of Boston, which was soon 
after mobbed and burned. 

38 



Many, many years later, near the close of her 
life, this incident was recalled in a curious manner. 

The wife of Mr. Justice Holmes, son of Oliver 
Wendell Holmes, had been dining with Mrs. Myers 
at her home in Washington, and as they sat in the 
drawing room, sipping their coffee, the following 
conversation took place : 

Mrs. Holmes asked, "Do you know Boston, Mrs. 
Myers ?" 

"Not very well of late years, but I was at school 
at the Charlestown Convent when I was a very little 
girl and was rescued from it with the nuns when it 
was mobbed and burned." 

"Oh," exclaimed Mrs. Holmes, "how often I have 
heard my Grandfather tell us how he went there that 
night and helped save the children, and dropped a 
little Spanish girl over the wall into a potato patch!" 

Mrs. Myers' bright eyes shone as she tapped her 
chest with a charmingly characteristic gesture and 
exclaimed, "I was that little Spanish girl." 

On the death of his wife Mr. Mason returned to 
the West Indies, to close the affairs of his plantation 
at Santa Catalina and at the Consulate, and placing 
his daughter at Miss Emma Willard's famous school 
for girls at Troy, New York, he went to Europe, 
traveling extensively for two years, until recalled by 
the death of his little son. He then took up his 
residence in New York, in a charming house at 
Number 3 College Place, at the head of which he 

39 



placed his daughter, who now finished her school 
days with the Misses McClennachan. Much of the 
furniture in this house was made from wood brought 
from the plantation in Porto Rico, from designs drawn 
for Mr. Mason in Europe. 

Catalina's room was furnished in satin wood, and 
many of these things were cherished and surrounded her 
during her life and are still in possession of the family. 

It was at about this time that Catalina met and 
fell in love with Mr. Theodorus Bailey Myers. By an 
odd coincidence they discovered that their family 
crests of a mermaid were the same. The Rev. Dr. 
Wainwright married them, and later christened their 
son, Theodorus Bailey Myers, who, at his grandfather's 
request, added the name of Mason to his own. At 
Catalina's wedding, her sister-in-law, Kate Myers, 
acted as one of her bridesmaids, and the friendship 
thus begun lasted throughout their lives, though they 
never lived in the same city, for Kate remained in 
Schenectady, New York, at head of her father's 
house where she preserved with veneration many 
family relics which were distributed at her death 
among her sister, nieces and nephews. 

Mrs- Myers more often saw her sister-in-law, 
Mrs. Thomas Reed Jackson, who with Mr. Jackson 
and their attractive little daughters, Lottie and 
Fannie, also lived in New York. 

Mr. Myers' other sisters and brothers were 
always welcome, but none lived in the same city. 

40 



THEODOHUS BAILEY MYERS 



3H3YM Y3JIAS 8U0OOO3HT 



p^n 




Before her marriage, Mrs. Myers had brought home 
one of her school-mates, Miss Catherine Gartz Robb, 
of Warrenton, Virginia, whom Mr. Mason later 
married, after which they continued to make their 
home in College Place. Mr. and Mrs. Mason later 
removed to the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue 
and 18th Street, a house which remained for many 
years a land mark. Here Mr. and Mrs. Myers passed 
their winters also, and here their children were born. 
In summer, at Mr. Myers' country home, Elm Spring, 
the hospitality of the winter was returned, when Mr. 
and Mrs. Mason were not visiting other resorts. 

It was a delightful drive from the Fifth Avenue 
home, where parties often formed "to give Catalina 
a surprise." 

With the aid of the field glass they could be 
seen at a distance, when Catalina would call the 
children and dispatch them skurrying over the stone 
wall to Jeremiah, the fisherman, who was always to 
be found in his boat on the creek below the house, 
and able to secure the freshest of fish — the famous 
North River shad when in season, and oysters fresh 
from the beds. 

From the old garden would be brought vegetables, 
salad and fruit. Often Mrs. Myers' guests were 
pressed into the service, and entering into the spirit 
of the fun they whipped up mayonnaise or prepared 
lemonade or raspberry syrup — a cooling drink then 
popular. 

4' 



Then would follow a delightful day of lounging 
in hammocks, reading aloud or listening to music, 
and sometimes going out on the water or strolling 
over to the high ground overlooking the Hudson, to 
see the sun set behind the Palisades and in the 
evening the party often drove back by moonlight, 
sometimes accompanied by their host and hostess. 
Other pleasant family gatherings were often held at 
Mr. Myers' "Uncle Nat's and Aunt Eliza's"— Mr. 
and Mrs. Nathaniel Piatt Bailey, Mr. and Mrs. Myers 
driving to nearby Fordham, and the children following 
on their ponies. 

At about this time Mrs. Myers' father gave her 
one of the first English phaetons brought to this 
country, and in it, drawn by a pair of small horses, she 
could drive herself about accompanied by the children. 

Here at Elm Spring, William Allen Butler, a life 
long friend of Mr. Myers read from the manuscript of 
"Nothing to Wear." 

In these days the sewing machine made its first 
appearance and ladies did many of their own pretty 
ruffles, and cozy mornings were spent on the deep 
veranda at the back of the house upon which opened 
the long library windows, and Miss Perkins often read 
aloud in a most delightful manner. 

Or, the party assembled in a cool hall running 
through the house where there never failed to be a 
breeze. In this happy Eden no mosquito bar was ever 
seen or required. When passing in an automobile the 

42 



other day (May, 1907,) it was observed by the daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Julian -James, that the house stood absolutely 
unchanged. The surroundings were no longer those of 
the old days, for the city is creeping up within sight 
and roads and boulevards are being cut through in all 
directions, but the view from the Colonial porch, of 
Van Cortlandt Park is still beautiful. Mrs. Julian - 
James was glad not to enter the once hospitable doors 
for she felt that only the shell remained. When the 
family left Elm Spring for Europe the place was sold, 
the son, Theodorus, went to the Naval Academy, and 
Mr. Myers recalled to the city by business affairs after 
some months of volunteer service in the Civil War. It 
was not long before these days that the young Prince 
of Wales, afterward King Edward VII, made his tour 
of the United States, and a brilliant ball was given for 
him at the old Academy of Music on Irving Place and 
14th Street, at which Mr. Myers served on the recep- 
tion and floor committees. Mrs. Julian -James well 
remembers her mother's charming appearance on this 
occasion, she wore a pink silk dress embroidered in tiny 
silver wheels, with wide flowing skirts over crinoline, 
her abundant dark hair was drawn smoothly back in 
the fashion of the times and arranged in a coil of 
heavy braids, and her dancing brown eyes were bril- 
liant, as they remained to the last. 

Because of her unfortunate deafness, caused by 
having been given the wrong medicine when a child, 
she rarely cared to appear in society except at an 

43 



occasional fancy ball, when her exquisite dancing and 
her love of fun made her the life of the party. 

She often said, "I can't hear,— but I can see!" 
Her intuitive insight into character was quite remark- 
able, as were her absolute good sense and clear judg- 
ment, and instinctive dislike of any person or thing not 
genuine. A certain unusual personal charm remarked 
by every one and retained to the last was enhanced by 
her slight Spanish accent which softened her always 
truthful remarks — for she was noted for having the 
frankness of a child blended with an old world dignity 
which in her later years made her a Personage. 

She was always most charitable, and was one of 
those who founded the Protestant Episcopal Orphanage 
situated for so many years on Lexington Avenue. This 
had its beginning in the sad case of some children left 
homeless on the death of their parents. Mrs. Myers 
established them in two rooms with a reliable woman 
to take care of them and later, with the assistance of 
friends, added a number of children and attendants 
which made it necessary from time to time to remove 
to larger quarters. 

Mrs. Myers, her step-mother, Mrs. Sidney Mason, 
and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Jackson, were of the earliest 
to become interested in a "Home for Indigent Christian 
Females" as was its quaint designation — (now St. 
Luke's Home) — an organization not unlike the Samari- 
tan Home for aged couples in which Mr. Myers and his 
sister, Mrs. Jackson, were also much interested. Mr. 

44 



tons. SIDNEY MASON 



H03AM Y3Mdia .8PM 



and Mrs. Myers were members of the Episcopal Church 
and were for many years parishioners of St. Bartholo- 
mew's, 44th Street and Madison Avenue. 

On visiting Europe after the sale of Elm Spring 
Mrs. Myers saw Paris in the height of its brilliancy 
under the reign of the Emperor Napoleon III and the 
beautiful Empress Eugenie. 

The Champs Elysees and the Bois de Boulogne were 
then still a novelty and the rendezvous of people of 
distinction from all countries, as well as of the people, 
— all assembled to revel in the Exposition Universelle, 
one of the first of such magnitude yet held. 

It was during this visit that Mrs. Myers was met 
by her son, Theodorus, who had graduated from 
Professor Charlier's famous school for boys in New 
York, and was now travelling with the Professor 
before entering the Naval Academy. 

On returning to New York Mr. and Mrs. Myers 
passed a winter at the Westminster Hotel, corner of 
Irving Place and 16th Street, and it was at this time, 
June 17, 1869, that their daughter Cassie, Married Mr. 
Julian James, but became a widow within a year of the 
brilliant wedding, which had taken place in her Grand- 
father's home on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 18th 
Street. 

On the death of her Grandfather she accompanied 
her mother and Mrs. Sidney Mason abroad where, in 
London, they met her brother Theodorus, now a young 
Naval officer, of whom his mother was justly proud. 

45 



After some weeks most delightfully spent in London, 
visiting the galleries, enjoying music, and receiving the 
hospitality of many delightful and distinguished people, 
they went to Paris just at the close of the Franco- 
German War in 1870, and were among the first to enter 
the city so sadly devastated. Mrs. Julian -James says, 
"We were struck by the absolute silence of the streets, 
the traffic of which had not been restored, the horses 
having been used for food during the siege. Therefore 
the noise of our horse's feet drew the people to their 
windows from which all the glass had been shattered." 
They drove to the Hotel Meurice on the Rue de 
Rivoli through the Place Vendome where the Column 
lay in pieces, and from the hotel could be seen the 
ruins of the superb buildings of the municipality which 
were still smoking. The party visited all points of 
interest, as well as the homes of some of their friends 
still in Paris, one of whom had had the misfortune to 
receive a bomb through her roof which alighted in the 
center of her drawing-room floor. A visit was paid also 
to the famous dressmaker, Worth, and they then pro- 
ceeded to Aix les Bains, now the gayest of watering 
places, but then, gambling having just been prohib- 
ited, only dreary and deserted halls and neglected baths 
remained. But the beautiful drives about the country 
were greatly enjoyed and the party drifted down to 
Spain and then to Italy for the winter. Returning to 
New York in the spring Mr. and Mrs. Myers rented a 
house on Madison Avenue, but later removed to 18 

46 



LIVING ROOM 

4 WEST THI — -T„ STREET 

NEW YORK 



T33HT2 



MOOfl OHIVU 
KROY W3H 



West 39th Street to which their son, Lieutenant 
Mason, brought his bride, the handsome and attractive 
daughter of Captain Phelps, United States Navy, then 
stationed at the Navy Yard, Mare Island, at which 
place they met and were married in 1875. Soon after 
this, Mr. and Mrs. Myers and their daughter removed 
to Number 4 West 34th Street, where they passed 
nine happy years. The house belonged to the Astor 
Estate and stood just in the rear of Mr. and Mrs. 
William Astor's house on the corner of Fifth 
Avenue, — the site and half the block besides, is now 
covered by the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. 

The old Fifth Avenue home on the corner of 18th 
Street had been leased and converted by Chickering & 
Sons, the famous piano manufacturers, into Chickering 
Hall, where for years the best music and the finest 
lectures were heard. 

The City of New York had not yet extended 
beyond Central Park on Manhattan Island, and Fifth 
Avenue was a street exclusively of residences. 
Society, though not literally limited to the number 
four hundred as laid down by the autocrat and 
unique social genius, Ward McAllister, was compara- 
tively small and homogeneous, and it was stamped 
with a character and charm that can never return. 
A large proportion of the most prominent families 
bore names associated with the history of the City, 
the State, or the Republic. 

Wealth had become sufficiently abundant to insure 

47 



a social setting in which elegance and good taste 
were more characteristic than they later became, when 
lavish expenditure so increased and over-whelmed the 
earlier ideals as to what was fitting and sufficient. 

"The Patriarchs," a series of balls given every 
winter at Delmonico's, on the corner of Fifth Avenue 
and 26th Street, and the F. C. D. C, a dancing class 
which also gave four balls, were perhaps the flower 
of social achievement and ambition at that time. 

The list of guests was rigorously compiled and 
pruned, that it might include only what was best 
and most characteristic in the society of the City 
and of its foreign visitors. 

Every two years Mrs. Myers and her daughter 
went abroad, stopping in Paris at the Hotel West- 
minster in the Rue de la Paix, to be near Madame 
Robin, formerly Mrs. Sidney Mason, who lived there 
and was surrounded by a most charming circle of 
friends. 

Her small hotel on the Pare Monceau was frequented 
by the musical and artistic celebrities of the day. In 
1885 the 34th Street house was given up, and Mr. 
and Mrs. Myers and their daughter passed three 
years abroad. 

While at Cannes a short time before the severe 
earthquake which visited the Riviera, they were joined 
by Mr. and Mrs. Jackson and their daughter, Frances. 
It was then that plans were seriously spoken of for 
building a home in Washington, of which Mr. Jackson 

4 8 



DRAWING ROOM 
4 WEST THIRTY- FOURTH STREET 



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SITTING ROOM OF MRS. JULIAN-JAMES 
4 WEST THIRTY-FOURTH STREET 



23MAI.-HAIJUI, 3«M lO MOOD 0HITTI2 
TJ3HTB HTHUOI-YTRIHT T23W * 



became the very successful architect. It was finished 
in 1888. 

But Mrs. Myers and her daughter began their life 
in the house so lovingly planned by them all without 
the husband and father, the sorrow of whose loss they 
were now called upon to endure. 

From 1888 to 1905, the mother and daughter passed 
the winters in Washington and the summers at Saratoga 
and Lenox, when not visiting Europe. 

Cherishing memories of the Christmas festivities in 
her early home in the West Indies, Mrs. Myers made 
much of the holiday for her children, always dressing a 
tree for the poor as well as for them. And her merry, 
quaint little Christmas parties were most characteristic 
and were continued to the last year of her life. 

One of them was a Bag Party, the guests all being 
requested to appear in bags, drawn in at the throat, 
beneath the masks, and the hands concealed— the effect 
was most amusing. 

She delighted to have supper served according to 
the fashion of her girlhood "when the gentlemen served 
the ladies" with oysters and ices from a table decked 
with the beautiful Bohemian glass of which the ruby 
color seemed to typify the cheerful glow of the Christ- 
mas season, and with her father's silver service 
surmounted by the mermaid of his crest— one of the 
first designed and made by Kirk of Baltimore. 

An incident connected with this silver occurred 
many years later, when she and her daughter went 

49 



over to Baltimore from Washington to select some 
Christmas presents. 

Finding that they had not brought sufficient money 
Mrs. Julian-James asked Mr. Kirk if he would accept 
a check. Receiving this, and observing the middle 
name of Mason, as well as that of the New York 
bank on which it was drawn, Mr. Kirk asked if the 
ladies were related to Sidney Mason, and on learning 
that they were his daughter and granddaughter, he 
exclaimed impulsively, "Oh, —please take the whole 
shop!" 

He then recalled the time many years ago, before 
the days of express delivery, when his father sent 
him on his first visit to New York to deliver at 
Number 3 College Place the silver service ordered by 
Mr. Mason and just completed. He had been given 
strict orders by his father to engage a wagon in New 
York, and to remain seated on the box until delivered 
to the purchaser, which he did, later going to see 
the sights of the town, so new and wonderful to him. 

On her annual visits to Saratoga, whose waters 
did her so much good, Mrs. Myers' arrival was looked 
for and welcomed by all the personnel of the United 
States Hotel. She had come there first with her 
father, as a little girl, and in her last years the 
proprietor greeted her as the oldest patron of the 
hotel. At Saratoga, within ten years of her death, 
she went one evening with a party of friends up to 
the ball room to witness a Cake Walk given annually 

50 



DRAWING BOOM 

1602 TWENTIETH STREET 

WASHINGTON 



MOOH OHIWAHQ 

T33HT2 HT3ITH3WT SOSI 

MOTOMIHaAW 



by the colored waiters and their ladies, most amusing 
caricatures of the day, who performed with perfect 
dignity and seriousness their part. There were no 
lights as yet turned on, but the moonlight streamed 
through the windows. Taking her Spanish lace scarf 
and raising it high over her head, she waltzed down 
the ball room in the most remarkably graceful man- 
ner, but to the terror of her daughter, whose fears 
were realized that night, when Mrs. Myers had an 
attack of the heart which confined her to her bed for 
weeks. 

During their residence in Washington Mrs. Myers 
and Mrs. Julian -James gathered round them a delight- 
ful circle. It soon became known to their friends 
that they remained at home on Saturday evenings, 
and their house became a rendezvous quite unique in 
Washington. Whole dinner parties would appear, till 
the number often reached three hundred— comprising 
all that was most distinguished in Washington society. 
The hostess not being in official life, had the privilege 
of drawing about her a circle that was most congenial 
and delightful — the same people returning week after 
week. Mrs. Myers moved gracefully among her 
guests, tactfully bringing out the newcomers to Wash- 
ington, and never breaking up tete-a-tetes, looking 
like a Marquise in her white hair and beautiful 
toilets, nothing escaping her bright eyes, which 
betrayed under all her dignity her innate love of 
fun. 

5' 



A great French physician had recommended that 
she always have near her a little dog whose quick 
ears would detect the approach of footsteps inaudible 
to her because of her unfortunate deafness. So her 
friends will always associate with her in her later 
years, two little high bred Japanese spaniels— Fugiyama 
and Yokohama, the latter appearing in a portrait 
painted of Mrs. Myers by Mrs. Loop after she had 
gone to join all who were so dear to her. 

A sketch would be incomplete without mention of 
the devotion of her servants, in whom she always 
brought out the best. One of them in particular- 
devoted, faithful Sam Smith, who was in the service 
of the family for forty years, and who grew from 
young manhood to age with the one thought of their 
welfare uppermost in his mind, survived Mrs. Myers 
by only a few months. 

Mrs. Myers had exquisite taste in dress— but she 
dominated, always, the jewels and dresses which she 
wore, — an aristocrat by birth and associations. 

She loved beauty and had discrimination in all 
things. Once, when very ill, she was asked what she 
would like for her birthday, and replied, with a smile, 
"A pink rose tied with a blue ribbon— in a crystal 
vase." 

The large hall in her Washington house, with its 
high fireplace and family portraits, contained eighteen 
pieces of furniture of antique design, covered with 
tapestry which was the work of her hands, begun 

52 



MRS. THEODORUS MYERS 
AND HER LITTLE DOG YOKO 



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HALL 

1902 TWENTIETH STREET 

WASHINGTON 



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while she was at school. The first was a high screen, 
and continuing year by year, one piece in summer, 
one in winter, the hall was at last completely fur- 
nished—many of the designs being by Heilbrunner, in 
Paris, and mounted in Renaissance style. 

One ever to be remembered event was a reunion of 
all the Mason cousins at a dinner given in Washington 
by Mrs. Myers and her daughter. Mrs. Julian-James 
has said she loved to think of her darling mother 
standing in the hall receiving first her cousin "Cito," 
to whom she was devoted, and his wife, Mary (Mr. and 
Mrs. John Mason ) of Philadelphia. With them came 
their three children and two grandchildren — Anna with 
her husband Howland Coit and their boy, Edward ; 
Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Mason; Mr. and Mrs. John Mason, 
bringing their little son Jack. 

Then came Alphonso Mason and his wife Mollie, 
and their daughter Helen, who had often been her 
cousin's guest. 

All had been invited to meet Etta, Ann and Cata- 
lina, daughters of Mrs. Myers' cousin Frank Mason, 
who, with his brother Thomas had been dear to her 
all her life as sons of her Uncle Alphonso, lost on the 
steamer "Lexington". 

Catalina Davis and Mrs. Babson, and her grandson 
Mason Babson, were unable to come on from Gloucester. 
Judge Jose Ramon Fernandez Savage and his wife, 
with their little baby, had just sailed for Porto Rico- 
being cousins on Mrs. Myers' mother's side of 

53 



the house she was much disappointed that this 
younger " Cito " could not be with her to join this 
attractive gathering of the Mason kin. 

To meet them, had been asked also her daughter- 
in-law and her husband's cousins living in Washington, 
Mr. and Mrs. Mimmack and their daughter Katharine. 
Mr. J. Herbert Carpenter who was present, but whose 
wife and three boys found it impossible to come, 
as did Mr. William J. Quinlan and his talented son, 
as well as Mr. and Mrs. William Allen Butler, Jr., and 
their five attractive children, who would have been 
among the most welcome guests. 

The table appeared to have no limitations. A 
Washington spoon lay at each plate to be kept by the 
guests as souvenirs, and as the dear little lady graced 
the head of the table and gave her greeting it was a 
never to be forgotten sight. 

After the happy day, Mrs. Myers' good friends 
Dr. and Mrs. Rixey came to see that all was well, and 
to let her physician in New York, Dr. Calvin May, 
know that so much exertion had not harmed their 
patient. Her faithful maid Annie O'Halloran then dis- 
robed her for the night. 

The next morning in her weekly letter to her life 
long friend Miss Sophie Furniss she gave a vivid 
account of the day. 

When a new little room, which was to be her 
special sanctum, was added to the house she wished 
to have it blessed by Bishop Satterlee, the first Bishop 



53« 



of Washington. The key was handed her by her 
daughter, who had caused the room to be completely 
furnished. Mrs. Myers opened the door and entered 
on the arm of the Bishop who, in a most beautiful 
prayer blessed the house and its inmates. Those 
assembled were the members of the household, the 
family of the Bishop, and the workmen who had 
been employed. It was a charming and touching 
ceremony. 

Her doctor once said that no one who had ever 
had the privilege of hearing Mrs. Myers say, in the 
presence of her daughter and maid, her little morning 
and evening prayer, could ever forget it. 

She was fond of all games, as was natural to 
one of her active mind. After dinner, friends often 
came in, and she was joined at her table where she 
had begun solitaire, till, one after another begging to 
share her game, it often became "five, six and seven 
hand euchre." She was invariably a victor at back- 
gammon, her quick eye seeing all possible chances at 
play. One of her favorite opponents was Mr. Charles 
Henry Butler, his wife and four children often 
coming also to take part in the games. The large 
affairs of her life were regulated with striking and 
unusual ability. Bills were paid instantly, but there 
was always a reserve fund, for she looked constantly 
to the future and was prepared for emergencies. She 
read the papers every day, and was greatly interested 
in the Russian and Japanese War. She never forgot 

53^ 



her Spanish, and her beautiful Castilian accent often 
greatly astonished foreign diplomats. She was always 
happiest at home, never caring much to pay visits, 
but driving daily over the smooth pavements of 
Washington and its beautiful surroundings where 
she often liked to leave the victoria or brougham for a 
walk, accompanied by her loving and devoted daughter, 
who scarcely left her for an hour in her later years. 

Her favorite drives were to Arlington, the Soldiers' 
Home and Rock Creek Park, and out to the beautiful 
Cathedral grounds. For a dozen years her faithful 
coachman, Charles Cook, selected the direction for 
the daily drive according to the indications of wind 
and weather. 

Almost every day Mrs. Myers was seen walking 
with her daughter in the Capitol grounds round the 
circle of the esplanade, where, in different years, a 
little dog of choice breed accompanied her and amused 
her with his gambols. 

First came "Top," a toy fox terrier, later 
followed by "Fujiyama," the gift of Mr. and Mrs. 
Jonathan Thorne, who, at the death of this pet, tried 
to console her by sending "Yokohama," a tiny Japanese 
spaniel of similar breed. 

In all her long life, in which Mrs. Myers at 
different times survived both shipwreck and earth- 
quake, she was but once severely injured. This 
occurred in 1877, in New York, when driving in 
her carriage to a great entertainment, "The Mistle- 

54 



MRS - Myerc. „ p 
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toe Bough," given for charity at the Academy of 
Music and elaborately gotten up and taken part in 
by many young people prominent in society. 

The carriage was wrecked, and though bravely 
protected by her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Mason, who 
was with her, she was so severely hurt that it was 
necessary to have several stitches taken in her 
face. 

As her husband's old friend, Dr. Emmet, bent 
tenderly over her, she looked up and said with 
characteristic spirit and wit — referring to her 
husband's passion for collecting valuable antiques and 
bric-a-brac: "I think Mr. Myers will like me better 
than ever now, for he always likes his old things 
when they are nicely mended." 

At Saratoga, in the summer of 1905, without 
lingering illness or pain, she gently breathed her 
last. She said good-bye in many little tacit ways 
that her daughter now remembers, once observing, 
with pathetic tenderness, "I can't stay here much 
longer, Cassie — but I wish I could take you with 
me." 

She liked the little Bethesda Church with its 
quiet service and choir boys, and here her funeral 
services were held before her last journey to New 
York where she was placed beside her husband, 
father and son in the tomb of Sidney Mason, over- 
looking Dale Water Lake in Greenwood Cemetery. 

In the Chapel of the House of Mercy, Washington, 

55 



a brass tablet has been erected which bears the 
following inscription : 

MRS. THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS 

IN LOVING MEMORY OF HER UNFAILING INTEREST IN THE 

HOUSE OF MERCY 

This Tablet is Placed Here by the 
Board of Managers 

Frances Jackson writes : 

"When I was a little girl I was very much 
attracted to my Aunt Catalina because she was so 
dainty and foreign, so different from any one I 
knew. She was gay and full of fun, and dressed 
beautifully which appealed to my childish fondness 
for pretty things. Her hair, at that time was dark, 
always beautifully arranged, her brown eyes were 
very soft and expressive, but most of all I admired 
her hands. Small and perfectly formed I never tired 
looking at them, nor have I ever seen any that 
compared with them. They were not ornamental only, 
for they could sew and embroider beautifully, and do 
all sorts of fine worsted work. 

"I remember our being together one summer at 
the seashore when I attached myself to her with all a 
child's tenacity, and the love that then developed 
never varied and never waned — in my heart. In the 
warm afternoons she would sit dressed in fresh 
organdies and laces, interested in the people and the 
little happenings which made up the life of the 
Long Island resort. At our home in New York she 
and my Uncle Theodore often dropped in to dinner 

56 



in informal family fashion, always welcome guests to 
parents and children alike. She had much to tell 
that was interesting, of her travels in Europe, of 
the people she had met and the functions she had 
attended. I was much impressed, then as later, by 
her keen insight, her consideration, her neatness and 
order, and the care with which she had preserved 
many beautiful things belonging to her mother. She 
loved to talk of her childhood, and held in tender 
memory those who had been kind to her when a 
motherless little girl. And so through all the years 
I knew and loved her, her atmosphere of exquisite- 
ness with its foreign touch in her pretty accent, 
drew and held me, as it did others, for friendships 
were many and enduring. She made her home a bright 
center, and loved to gather her relatives and friends 
about her in charming hospitality. Her adoration 
for her children was most marked. I remember her 
bright anticipations of holidays, and her many 
arrangements for celebrating them, — there must be 
dinners at Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and 
Easter, each for a different set of relations and 
friends. She enjoyed little surprises and presents and 
displayed great taste and care in selecting gifts and 
arranging pleasures for others. One autumn we all 
met in Paris. She at once exclaimed, "Now we shall 
have our Thanksgiving dinner together, though we can- 
not have pumpkin pie." I well remember a most 
delightful Thanksgiving dinner of twenty-four in the 

57 



beautiful Washington house, she at the head of the 
long table with her splendid son at her right hand, 
her dear daughter facing her with my father at her 
side, and how my Aunt Cattie said, 'I am so glad to 
have you all here to-day, and I hope you will all come 
again next year.' There was something in her gentle 
voice and sweet manner more expressive than the mere 
words of welcome. 

"She was self-reliant, conscientious and brave. 

"Gracefully she passed through life, and when the 
weight of years pressed upon her, without great 
suffering, she passed on, out of our sight." 

Frances Alice Jackson. 



58 



TEA ROOM 

' 60Z T "«T. ET „ STREET 
WASHINGTON 



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1602 AND 1606 TWENTIETH STREET 
WASHINGTON 



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THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS MASON 
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER UNITED STATES NAVY 



K03AM 3A3YM Y3JIA8 3 UHOQ03HT 
YVAH 23TAT3 Q3T.HU «30M«MO 3 THAH3TU31J 



SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS MASON 

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER UNITED STATES NAVY 

1849-1899 

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER THEODORUS 
BAILEY MYERS MASON was born in New 
York, on May 8, 1849, at 132 Fifth Avenue, next to 
the northwest corner of 18th Street. He was named 
for his father, Theodoras Bailey Myers, and after- 
ward added the name of Mason to his own at the 
request of his grandfather, Sidney Mason, who had 
lost his only son, Alphonso, when a child. 

Later on, he lived in the corner house, Number 
130 Fifth Avenue, the home of his grandfather, who 
was devoted to him. 

Every day they rode together. Theodore mounted 
on a white pony brought from the West Indies, and 
so diminutive that, when Mr. Mason and he were 
joined by friends, as was often the case, they were 
hardly visible to the little rider behind the high wall 
of his grandfather's tall horse. 

The boy's summers were all passed at his 
father's country place. Elm Spring, between Spuyten 

59 



Duyvil and Mosholu, the latter name an Indian one, 
having been given to the adjacent post office by 
Colonel Myers, who often related to his son the 
alleged origin of the curious appellation, Spuyten 
Duyvil. It was said that the trumpeter of Governor 
Peter Stuyvesant affirmed that he would swim the 
width of water which separated Manhattan Island from 
the mainland "in spite of the Devil." 

A present to young Theodore from his father, 
one Fourth of July, was that of a perfect little 
English gig, with side lights and a top, drawn by a 
goat. In this, the boy often drove out with his 
little sister in state, and their pride and joy were 
complete when she carried a delightful little pink 
parasol, which was a favorite gift from her grand- 
father, and Tommie, a knit doll, relegated to her by 
her brother, it having been given to him when he 
was five weeks old, the most prized toy of their 
collection. It was here, under the hill, on the Spuyten 
Duyvil Creek, which runs near the present Van 
Cortlandt Park, that "young Theodore," as he was 
known to his aunts and uncles, to distinguish him 
from his father, Colonel Myers, received his first 
lessons in swimming, rowing and sailing, as well as 
a practical experience in ordnance,— a branch of 
naval science in which he afterward became dis- 
tinguished. He loaded a small cannon with blasting 
powder, which exploded in his face, but owing to 
his grandfather's quick action and presence of mind 

60 



he was not disfigured, for Mr. Mason pressed the 
boy against a tree with his knee while he took out 
the grains of powder, one by one, with his pen- 
knife — an experience very painful to both, though 
Mr. Mason delighted in the stoicism of his grandson, 
who never uttered a sound. 

The days were not entirely filled with play, for 
lessons were learned with a German governess, 
Fraulein Fritzi, to whom the little brother and sister 
were always devoted. 

Both children spoke French fluently, not knowing 
the difference between that and English, having 
constant practice with their French nurse, Adeline, 
and with a Frenchman, Georges Lecaital, for thirty 
years in the employ of their grandfather as butler. 

For many winters Theodore was a pupil at the 
Charlier Institute, a boys' school famous in old New 
York, which he attended until he entered the Naval 
Academy, at the age of sixteen. His appointment as 
Midshipman he procured by his own efforts in a 
characteristic way. During one of his vacations he 
went to his father, saying that he had chosen his 
career in life, and meant to go into the United 
States Navy. On being asked how he proposed to 
obtain an appointment, he replied that he had been 
saving his money for some time, and now he had 
enough to take him to Washington, where he meant 
to call upon the Secretary of the Navy and ask him 
for it ; and his father, pleased with this indication of 

61 



character, consented to the plan. On arriving in 
Washington and discovering that he had forgotten 
his visiting cards, a man was found in the hotel who 
offered to write some for him, and executed the 
commission with many flourishes. 

Armed with this satisfactory credential he called 
at the Navy Department and was received in due 
time by Secretary Fox. The details of the interview 
between this Cabinet official and his dark-eyed, 
strikingly good looking boy visitor were never repeated, 
for, with characteristic modesty, Theodore simply 
announced on returning home, that he was to receive 
an appointment, which accounts for the fact that it 
came eventually from Florida. 

Meanwhile, at the desire of his grandfather, 
Theodore enjoyed two experiences of travel— one in 
the West, with several boy companions invited to join 
him ; and the other in Europe, with Professor 

Charlier. 

Long afterward, Bishop Whipple, of Minnesota, 
so noted a friend and missionary to the Indians, 
recalled a visit paid to him by this party of boys, 
accompanied by Professor Mann. One of the boys was 
a son of the Rev. Dr. Cooke, Rector of St. Bartho- 
lomew's Church, then on the corner of La Fayette 
Place and Great Jones Street, of which the Mason 
family had long been parishioners. 

The boys assisted the Bishop at the opening of 
one of his missions, singing the hymns in their fresh 

62 



young voices, and forming part of a picturesque 
congregation, in which red Indians and the brave 
pioneer settlers of the State were included. 

Theodorus Bailey Myers Mason entered the Naval 
Academy at a most fortunate time, in the fall of 
1864. During his first year as a Midshipman, the 
Academy was still stationed at Newport, Rhode Island, 
to which place it had been thought wise to remove 
it in 1861, during the Civil War ; but the institution 
returned in the fall of 1865 to its old home at 
Annapolis, Maryland, under the wise and remarkable 
administration as Superintendent of Admiral David 
D. Porter. 

Mr. Park Benjamin, of New York, was then a 
Cadet in the class above that of young Mason and of 
this period he writes in his very entertaining history 
of the United States Naval Academy: "The direct 
management now passed into the hands of one of 
the most brilliant groups of young officers which had 
ever assembled under the auspices of the Navy; into 
the hands of the men who had actively fought the 
battles of the Civil War, and who had now returned, 
flushed with the enthusiasm of victory and ready to 
bend all their energies to teaching the rising gener- 
ation how to go and do likewise." 

The three years which followed were most happy 
ones and in 1868 Mr. Mason graduated number 
twenty in his class, the members of which received 
their diplomas at West Point with the Cadets of the 

63 



Military Academy. The festivities occasioned by this 
combination of the Army and the Navy were varied 
and brilliant, but the experiment was never repeated 
in after years. 

There were entertainments ashore and afloat, and 
competition drills ; and the Army and Navy acted 
alternately as hosts. 

Soon after graduation Mr. Mason was ordered to 
the Flagship "Guerriere" of the South Atlantic Station. 

A friend wrote, after his death in 1899: "The 
records of the Navy Department show that from this 
time forward he was in positions of importance 
affording ample opportunity for the exercise of talents 
which qualified him for the highest usefulness ;" and 
another Naval friend adds; "Generous to a fault, 
always ready to help those in trouble, beloved by all 
who knew him well, had his health permitted and an 
opportunity offered in the war with Spain, no man 
would have brought more credit to his country's flag 
and profession, than T. B. M. Mason." 

In the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, in 1868, when 
barely twenty years of age, he saved the lives of two 
drowning seamen, throwing himself into the water, 
which was infested with sharks, and bravely rescuing 
them. 

Knowledge of this act coming to Dom Pedro, 
Emperor of Brazil, he sent to Mr. Mason, in recognition 
of his heroic conduct, the Order of the Rose, which he 
was allowed by his government to accept by special act 

64 



of Congress, at the request of Mr. Frelinghuysen, 
Secretary of State, who himself sent to Mr. Mason a 
letter of thanks. He received besides, a gold medal of 
the New York Benevolent and Life Saving Institution 
for saving life and for improvements in life saving 
apparatus. This Mr. Mason valued more highly than 
any other decoration which he received, for these were 
the first of the twenty lives Mr. Mason was enabled to 
rescue during his Naval career. Ten years later he was 
decorated for personal bravery by Victor Emanuel, King 
of Italy, who presented Lieutenant Mason with a silver 
medal for having gone with three sailors, all volunteers, 
on board and into the lower hold of the Italian bark 
"Delaide" lying on fire in the harbor of Callao, Peru. 
The bark was loaded with powder and railroad supplies, 
and the Americans rolled aside the kegs and extin- 
guished the fire. 

On his twenty-first birthday, Mr. Mason's grand- 
father, Sidney Mason, died, and the young officer asked 
for his first leave of absence, to join his mother, his 
sister and his grandfather's widow in England. 

Mr. Mason sailed on the yacht of the Earl of 
Harrington, two of whose sons were his intimate 
friends, to meet the steamer from America. They 
cruised about while waiting for its arrival and came 
aboard the ship at the Needles. Mr. Mason had been 
well introduced in England by Lord John Hay, later 
of the admiralty; many exclusive clubs opened their 
doors hospitably to him, and he had been delightfully 

65 



entertained by many agreeable people in London 
society. In return, Mr. Mason often gave little dinners 
at his apartment on Albemarle street, which were 
chaperoned by his widowed sister, Mrs. Julian -James. 

He and his sister enjoyed morning rides in the 
Row, for, contrary to the usual Naval tradition, he 
was an excellent horseman, and once, in Paris, Mr. 
Mason surprised the French officers who had invited 
him to join a reviewing party, by declining the offer 
of the carriage which they wished to send for him 
and requesting the use of a saddle horse on which 
to join the mounted officers. 

On a later visit to England, Admiral Franklin, 
just before taking command of the Mediterranean 
Squadron, was invited to witness some shooting at 
Aldershot, and his aid, not being in London, Mr. 
Mason, was invited to act in his place. 

After some very fine work by the English officers, 
one of them asked young Mr. Mason, in a tone he 
conceived to be slightly sarcastic, "If he would not 
like to take a try"— for "the Americans were known 
to be such excellent shots." Replying that he would 
do so with pleasure and asking for a rifle, the young 
naval officer stood quietly, dressed in his Prince 
Albert coat, and, to the delight of the American 
Admiral, made a bull's eye. On one occasion Mr. 
Mason having paid a visit to the French capital, was 
about to cross over to England. He had given a 
farewell dinner to his family and a few intimate 

66 



friends, at the Hotel Meurice. On arriving at Boulogne 
that night, the sea was found to be running so high as 
to make it unsafe to cross. While standing on the 
quay he observed a vessel in distress, and calling for 
volunteers was successful in rescuing the crew. 

Mr. Mason enjoyed a cruise in the Mediterranean on 
the flagship ''Franklin," commanded by Admiral Rogers, 
whose son, Raymond, an officer on the ship, had been 
Mr. Mason's friend and classmate at Annapolis. 

In 1869 he became Ensign, and in 1870 Master. In 
1871 he was attached to the Navy Department in Wash- 
ington, and while on duty as aid to the Secretary of 
the Navy, he was detailed to accompany General Grant 
to Boston in 1872, and was later special aid at the 
White House where the President and Mrs. Grant and 
their family always showed him the greatest kindness. 

In 1873 Lieutenant Mason went to the South Pacific 
and was one of the first to volunteer in landing forces 
at Panama to protect American interests. 

When stationed on the Pacific Coast in 1875 he 
married, at Mare Island, the daughter of the Captain 
of the Yard, Thomas Stowell Phelps, who was later 
Rear-Admiral, commanding the same. 

Edmonia Taylor Phelps was a beautiful, spirited, 
and accomplished girl, and after her marriage to Lieu- 
tenant Mason their mutual devotion until his death was 
a matter of admiration to their large circle of friends. 
When Lieutenant Mason was on the Eastern Station 
his wife joined him in Japan. 

67 



In 1875 -'76, Lieutenant Mason was appointed 
instructor of French at Annapolis, and here, in 
the quaint old town, as yet untouched by any modern 
innovations, Mr. and Mrs. Mason passed happy months, 
surrounded by friends and class-mates, and delighting 
to welcome at all times the members of their yet 
unbroken family circle during that time and when he 
was instructor of Ordnance and Gunnery at the Naval 
Academy. The remembrance of the light-hearted fun 
and gaity of those days are cherished as the happiest 
of memories. 

At about this time he was called to Washington, 
Mr. Arthur then being President, and commenced 
the organization of the Bureau of Intelligence, an 
idea original with him, the statistics of which he 
worked upon for a number of years when off duty. 
For the second time Mr. Mason found himself persona 
grata at the White House. During this period he 
built his home, 1606 Twentieth Street. 

In 1885 he commanded a battery of Light Artillery 
on the Isthmus of Panama. 

When Mr. Mason was in the East his ship visited 
Corea. The Secretary of State had previously desig- 
nated him to travel with the Corean Embassy, the 
first sent to the United States from the Hermit King- 
dom, and of which the Crown Prince was a 
member. 

On arriving in Corea, where, it appears, he was not 
unknown, the command of the Corean Army and 

68 



MRS. THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS MASON 



H02AM 3H3YM Y3JIA8 2UH0Q03HT .3HM 



Navy, with the title of Prince and a high salary, was 
offered to him by the King. This he courteously 
declined. 

In 1888, after his return from the East, he became 
special aid to the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Whitney, 
and was re-appointed to this duty by Secretary 
Benjamin F. Tracey, whose especial confidence and 
regard he ever afterward enjoyed. 

Among his many writings, he contributed a 
standard text book on Ordnance and Artillery Tactics, 
and a history of the war between some of the South 
American States in 1880. After serving on the flag- 
ships "Trenton" and "Brooklyn," on the Asiatic Station, 
and also as navigator on the "Essex" during a cruise 
in the Caroline Islands, he resumed duty at the Navy 
Department from 1889 to 1891, and acted as assistant 
inspector during the building of the cruiser "New 
York," at Cramp's ship-yard, Philadelphia. On its 
completion he became her executive officer under 
Captain, afterwards Rear Admiral, J. W. Philip, 
serving on the South Atlantic Station. 

Mr. Mason was a man of unusually attractive 
personality. His firm step, erect carriage, and the 
commanding yet winning expression of his fine eyes 
were not easily forgotten, for they suggested the power 
of reserve strength and resourcefulness, which were 
always at his command in emergency. Though almost 
a martinet in discipline, he won the devotion of his 
men, who always felt, as did his family and friends, 

6 9 



that in trouble they could rely on his sympathy and 
help in all ways in his power. 

Further, to quote one who knew him well, whose 
words were published in the New York Herald after 
his death: "Lieutenant Commander Mason's career, 
his work on Gunnery, and his acts of chivalrous 
heroism need no comment, It is because of such 
men as he that our country's Navy has received so 
many tributes of unfeigned admiration and respect." 

One of the last acts of his kindness, cherished by 
one of the compilers of this memoir, is the remembrance 
of the generous, whole-souled interest he expressed 
when he learned that his young kinsman, Robert 
Traill Spence Lowell, then, in 1898, in his twelfth 
year, ardently wished to follow as closely as possible 
in his footsteps in the Naval profession, which the boy 
subsequently entered. 

Lieutenant Mason's charming home in Washington, 
Number 1606 Twentieth Street, N. W., facing Connecti- 
cut Avenue, and his country home at Saugerties, on 
the Hudson, were the gifts of his devoted father and 
mother, who often said that they preferred to make 
their children happy during their life time rather 
than wait till after their death. To quote the words 
of his father's life long friend, William Allen Butler, 
"Lieutenant Commander Mason's home at Washington, 
contains in a lofty and beautiful library, erected for 
the special purpose to which it is devoted, the 
remarkable collection of autographs and documents of 

70 



public men of the United States from the foundation 
of its government, and of published works relating 
to American history, all gathered by his father, 
Theodorus Bailey Myers, during many years of research, 
in which he was associated with Dr. Thomas Addis 
Emmet, of New York, whose collection of a similar 
character passed into the possession of the New 
York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden 
Foundations." 

In 1894 the failure of his formerly robust and 
splendid health rendered his retirement a painful 
necessity, though he never gave up hope that he 
might recover and return to active duty. His devoted 
wife met him in England, at the steamer on which 
he was being invalided home from the United States 
Ship "New York," on which he had made his last 
cruise. 

But the remaining five years of his life were not 
without many blessings — the love and devotion of his 
wife, mother and sister, the affection of many 
friends, and the respect and esteem of all whose 
lives in any way touched his. 

With the resources of an ample fortune he 
delighted in the wholesome and simple but charming 
life of his country home on the Hudson. Before 
owning a home in Saugerties, Mr. and Mrs. Mason 
passed several summers there in a rented cottage, 
and had endeared themselves in many ways to the 
village inhabitants, as well as to the workmen making 

7' 



alterations on the house. When his own home was 
completed, and he took possession of it, representa- 
tives of the village, headed by the village band, 
turned out in procession to greet him, and the 
Mayor made a speech of welcome and presented 
the key of the village, which he ever after highly 
prized. 

On the day of his funeral all the shops closed 
their doors as the procession passed, and the bells 
of the Catholic Church tolled as he was borne on 
to the little Protestant Church. 

Rear Admiral John W. Philip, then in command of 
the Brooklyn Navy Yard, with several of his staff and 
a number of officers from the United States Ships 
"New York" and "Massachusetts" then lying at 
anchor in the Hudson River, met the funeral cortege 
and members of the family, at the West Shore railway 
station at Weehawken. Thence the party proceeded by 
a Government tug to the foot of 39th Street, Brooklyn, 
and by carriages to Greenwood. 

The friendship between Admiral Philip and Lieu- 
tenant-Commander Mason had always been warm and 
the Admiral headed the list of honorary pall-bearers, 
the others being Commanders Wadhams, Kennedy, and 
Storey, and Surgeons McClurg and Bartelott. The 
Naval escort included the Navy Yard Band, with a 
company of marines from the Navy Yard and a 
company of sailors from the "Chicago." It was an 
impressive sight as the casket, draped with the flag and 

72 



THE ANCHORAGE. S A U G E R T I E S - O N - H U S O N 

SUMMER HOME OF 

LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER AND MRS. MASON 



H OSOUH - HO- 33 I TH 3 3U A3 .3OAHOH0HA 3HT 

lO 3 MO H R3MMU2 
HOSAM .8HM aH> H3Q H AM MOO-TH AH 3TU3IJ 



rich floral tributes, was carried across the gang plank 
by a dozen sturdy sailor lads, and the officers in full 
dress Naval uniform stood reverently on the forward 
deck with bared heads. Just below 42nd Street lay the 
United States Ship "New York" and the United States 
Ship "Massachusetts." Their flags were at half mast, 
and as the former vessel was passed, on which Lieu- 
tenant-Commander Mason had been executive officer, 
and whose construction he had carefully superintended 
at the Cramp's shipyard, the sailors and marines stood 
at "attention." 

Arrived at Greenwood before the mausoleum of the 
Mason family, and the impressive religious ceremony 
performed, the draped casket was borne by sailors 
into the tomb which was so filled with palms and 
growing plants as to resemble a conservatory. 

The family and friends and the Naval officers stood 
by, at the word of command three volleys were fired, 
and the bugler, mounted the low marble steps. Then, 
on the soft hazy air of the October afternoon the clear 
notes of "taps" rang out, giving in the presence of 
those he had loved, the last touching, solemn, martial 
"good-night" to this gallant officer and gentleman. 

On October 14, 1901, a memorial window erected 
by his widow was unveiled as an altar piece in the 
old red brick church at the Naval Academy, Annapolis. 
In 1903 this chapel was demolished to be replaced by 
the octagonal white marble chapel of the new Naval 
Academy. The window was carefully removed and 

73 



stored at Annapolis. It is a very beautiful example 
of Tiffany's best design and workmanship in favril 
glass. The central figure is Sir Galahad holding 
before him his sheathed sword, as if about to lay it 
down. On either side are shadowy figures of angels 
bearing emblems, their outspread wings forming a 
canopy over the knight. The lower part of the panel 
shows the coat of arms of the Mason family and 
bears the memorial inscription taken from the resolu- 
tions sent to his family at his death by the "Sons 
of the Revolution." The window was unveiled by 
Lieutenant C. D. Galloway, retired, a life long friend 
of the deceased officer. An appropriate sermon was 
preached by Chaplain H. H. Clark, who took for his 
text the words, "A memorial in the House of the 
Lord," drawing lessons from the typical life of Sir 
Galahad of courage, faith and purity which he addressed 
to the assembled cadets, urging that all these noble 
qualities go to the building up of a true Christian 
officer, and were evidenced by the life and services of 
the late Lieutenant -Commander Mason, whose memory 
should be cherished, and of whose character the window 
should ever be a reminder. 



74 



BOOKPLATE OF THE 

COLLECTION OF THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS 

IN THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 

ASTOR. LENOX, AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS 



3 H T 10 JTAjqKOOS 

3H3YM Y3JIA8 3 URO0O3HT TO HOITD3JJOO 

YHAH8IJ 0IJ8US H H O Y W3X 3HT HI 

j«OIT»0HU01 H30J1T QUA .XOH3J .«OT S A 



i 




mm m> mm 



THE COLLECTION OF 

C>IirmTimts Kiiilcy {Dyers' 

PRESENTED BY 

ins widow 

< littulimt dulhtmtflhisiui {Dyers' 

HIS DAUGHTER 

< liisste {Ihismt {Dyrrstfulinnvtames j 

HIS DA.UGHTE lt-IX-LAW 

(ifunixnm FnxularVhtliisiMapfnt 

TO THE 

t Ueia i)orkX!ulilit Library 

IsTOR.lENOXASDTILDENFOUNnAXIONgi^j 
IX MEMORY OF 

^lu'iiiiurus .i'tuiley {Dyrrs 

and HIS SON 

<<>JiiuuWus.HaHru{Durrs{Diisiin 

I.IECTHXAXT-« O.MMAXDEK 
UNITES STATES NAVY 



rr*^ 




MRS. 



MRS. MYERS 
MRS. JULIAN-JAMES 
THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS 



MASON 



HOS AM 



2H3YM eHM 
33MAL-HAIJUI. 2HM 
2H3YM Y3JIA3 3UHOQ03HT 



.3HM 



MRS. JULIAN -JAMES 



33 M Al - H A IJ U L .SflM 






. 



EARLY RECOLLECTIONS OF 

CASSIE MASON MYERS JULIAN-JAMES 

^\NE of the first things that I remember, as a 
^^ child of about four years, was sitting for my 
portrait painted on ivory by Carline, a deaf and dumb 
miniature painter of note in New York during the 
fifties. Watching his brush as he dipped it into the 
glass of water, and seeing the picture grow I won- 
dered if he brought me out of that glass on his 
brush— like a gold fish out of an aquarium, and if so, 
how could I be in the glass as well as seated in my 
chair ? For many years my dear mother wore this 
little portrait in a brooch. 

Later on I had a charming surprise, though it was 
somewhat marred by my own naughtiness. A doll's 
house had been prepared for me, furnished through- 
out by my mother's skillful and loving hands. Its 
crowning glory was a chandelier with tiny wax candles, 
and until these were lighted my brother Theodore 
and I were not to be allowed to play with it. Impatient 
with this delay, more on his account than my own, 
I delivered a tirade, which I am told was half in 
French and half in English. I soon found myself 

75 



with my high chair turned to the wall, where I 
remained for a time for my sins, my small ankle-ties 
beating an angry tattoo on the little footshelf. But, 
I believe, my little tempers, though violent, were 
quickly over. 

At Christmas time my mother and "Mamma 
Mason" trimmed two Christmas trees — one for us, and 
one for some little orphan children, and throughout her 
long life my dear mother delighted to celebrate the 
season in ways that made many hearts happy, both 
within and outside her family circle. 

Under our tree, fairy grottoes, or miniature farms, 
were set out, a whole magic world of delight to us. 

I now mastered two accomplishments, that of plac- 
ing in their proper order colored wooden blocks on 
which were painted the letters of the alphabet, and I 
learned by heart the nursery classic of the "Three 
Bears." In those days, to "learn one's letters" was 
the very first step on the path of knowledge ; and the 
hated multiplication table up to twelve times twelve 
soon followed. When visitors came, I was sometimes 
summoned from play to exhibit these accomplishments, 
when little overalls buttoning up in the back would be 
quickly stripped off and I would appear in dresses 
embroidered with exquisite skill by my mother, whose 
beautiful hands I scarcely remember to have seen idle. 

I now made one of my first appearances in 
society at a children's fancy ball given by our neigh- 
bor, Mrs. Payne. I was dressed in the complete 

76 



/ 



THEODORE AND CAS&IE 



\ 



aiaaAo qua inoaoaHT 



costume of a French Marquise, with powder and 
patches, while my brother, Theodore, two and a half 
years older, appeared as a Scottish Chief. 

Lost in the crowd of older children I was lifted 
and placed upon the piano beside a little boy dressed 
as a Marquis, no taller than myself. 

When urged to walk in to supper side by side, 
we took our places in the procession of children 
moving slowly toward the dining room to the accom- 
paniment of the march from Verdi's Lucia, music so 
associated in those days with childish festivities that 
it still calls up visions to my mind of ices and 
fancy cakes. I found great fault with my little partner 
because, as I explained to my mother, he "did not 
know how to c'ook his arm." 

Years later, in Paris, he and I met on Mr. 
Frederick Munroe's coach, when I was chaperoning a 
party of friends to Versailles. 

I was attracted by the voice of Mr. Gerald 
Hoyt, who sat behind me, and as we passed one of 
the hotels on the Champs Elysees, and he was 
informed that it belonged to the daughter of Mrs. 
Payne, he remarked that that name was associated 
with one of his earliest recollections— his first ball — 
when he was so small that he had been lifted to 
view the scene from the top of the piano. I then 
recognized the little Marquis, and when, greatly to 
his surprise, I laughingly asked him if he had 
improved in his manner of offering his arm, there 

77 



was general amusement at our respective versions of 
the incident. 

At this time, Broadway was paved with cobblestones 
over which thundered the Broadway omnibuses drawn 
by horses. The buildings lining this thoroughfare were 
usually from two to five stories in height, while those 
of six stories looked loftily down on most of their 
neighbors. The steeple of Old Trinity, at the head of 
Wall Street, now quite submerged by "sky scrapers" 
towered to a dizzy height and was the first object to 
be seen from the deck of incoming steamers. 

The most facinating shop on all Broadway, as many 
people who where then children would agree, was 
Philipotteau's on the southwest corner of Nineteenth 
Street, a modest wooden house, with slanting roof 
and dormer windows, presided over by a genial old 
Frenchman and his wife. The door was reached by 
two little wooden steps leading to a platform on which 
at Christmas time stood Santa Claus with a Christmas 
tree in his arms. In the windows, with small square 
panes and solid wooden shutters, were displayed the 
simple toys that then delighted childish eyes. Among 
them were no wonderful models of mechanism run by 
steam or electricity, but I am sure we had as much 
pleasure in these toys, for their slight resemblance 
to what they were supposed to represent gave such 
free play to the imagination. 

There were small wooden horses, with a few 
wisps of hair for tails and bodies painted in surpris- 

78 



ing colors— a polka dot pattern, usually red, being 
most popular; donkeys with panniers and wobbling 
heads, rigid white china dolls with staring eyes, 
flat painted curls and boots to match— all very black 
and shining. 

Noah's Arks were my delight and were the only 
toys with which we were allowed to play on Sun- 
days. The roof lifted up, and we extracted the little 
wooden men and women, trees, animals and birds all 
of uniform height and arranged them in procession 
in quaint illustration of the Story of the Flood. 
Mr. and Mrs. Noah could not be distinguished from 
their sons and daughters, or from each other,— for 
they were much like firecrackers in shape, with flat 
splinters of wood glued to their sides for arms, and 
round, thick wooden hats shading their featureless 
little pink faces. 

Story books had bright covers and pictures done 
in crude primary colors, — and all children knew by 
heart the Mother Goose Rhymes, Jack the Giant- 
Killer, Puss in Boots, Red Riding-Hood, the Three 
Bears, and other facinating and implicitly credited 
tales. 

Round glass jars, with metal covers, were filled 
with sticks of pink and white peppermint candy, 
and jujube paste was rolled and cut off with shears, 
by measure. 

There were then no Brooklyn Bridges, no sub- 
ways, no Statue of Liberty, and the city of New 

79 



York was confined to Manhattan Island, below Central 
Park, which was then being planned and laid out. 
Small ferry boats carried passengers to Brooklyn and 
to far-off Staten Island, on which were situated 
many lovely summer homes. If a theater party from 
those distant shores delayed its supper at Delmonico's 
until too late for the midnight boat a tug had to be 
chartered— not always an easy matter — or, failing 
this, the alternative remained of staying in New 
York in evening dress until the day boats began to 
run. 

In about 1856 there lived and flourished in New 
York a dancing master named Charrieo. He was to 
be seen in the morning, wearing full evening dress, 
talking with animation and gesticulating with his 
bow— his violin under his arm. I have a distinct 
recollection of being presented at an early age to 
this rather formidable personage, in his dancing 
hall, a long room, with many windows, probably 
on the corner of Eleventh Street and Broadway. It 
was reached by an entrance on the side street, up 
long stairs of an uncompromising steepness, that 
seemed to little feet as unending as Jacob's ladder. 

At the top was a cloak room lined with square 
boxes to hold the little overcoats, leggings, mittens 
and broad brimmed plumed hats of the little dancers. 

A square, four- legged piano, of tinny tone, 
formed the orchestra, when accompanied by the 
violin of the professor. He placed our hands on a 

80 



bar extending the length of the room, and to the 
slow notes of the octave little feet were raised higher 
and higher, then slowly lowered to the floor. This 
was done over and over, until the pupils could keep 
their balance and do without support, when a polka 
was allowed, and the little boys presented themselves 
as partners. Quadrilles followed, including the long 
popular "Landers," and the afternoon ended with 
the Virginia Reel. 

Other hours were devoted to calisthenics, taught 
by the excellent Miss Plum. The girls wore bright 
scarlet Garibaldi waists, named in honor of the great 
Italian patriot, buttoned down the front and at the 
wrists with small round gilt buttons. With these 
were worn full striped skirts, with a band at the 
hem to match the waist. 

My blouse was copied from that of a doll brought 
from Paris in the time of Napoleon III and his 
beautiful Empress Eugenie, which, with its trousseau, 
was the exact replica of one at the Paris Exposition 
presented to the little Prince Imperial. 

In later years, at Lenox, I was once asked if I 
remembered Miss Plum and the chalk lines she marked 
on the floor for our feet, and how the boys used to 
try to jump into those that would place them beside 
their favorite partners. 

Still other afternoons were passed at the Riding 
Academy of Mrs. Dickel, a martial and imposing 
person, wearing a Kossuth hat and long feathers. 

81 



The orders she called out in a masculine voice, and 
with military abruptness, were promptly obeyed by her 
class of children, for the ponies were well trained to 
go through the drills, whether according to or against 
the wills of their young riders. But the maneuvers 
were always admired, and thought to show extraordi- 
nary skill by the fond parents who looked on. My 
brother and I, who had early been taught to ride by 
our grandfather, Sidney Mason, were absolutely at 
home on horse-back, and when music was introduced 
and we were sometimes placed at the head of the 
line, our little hearts beat with pleasure. 

The sewing lesson, a love for which had not been 
inherited, filled distressful hours — made bearable only by 
listening at the same time to stories read aloud by the 
governess. 

Our home on the corner of Eighteenth Street and 
Fifth Avenue was almost a detached villa, for I can 
recall but one house between it and the top of Murray 
Hill at about Fortieth Street. Opposite to our house 
was an open field in which was pastured a cow, but 
later, a pretty Gothic Church and the house of 
August Belmont were built there to be in their turn 
replaced by the many storied business building of 
Arnold & Constable. 

One of the houses associated with childish delights 
was that of Mr. and Mrs. Bruce on Broadway opposite to 
Astor Place then about the center of social activities. 

The grown daughters, Miss Catherine and Miss 

82 



Matilda delighted in giving pleasure to the children of 
their friends, and as their house was on the line of 
march for all processions of soldiers or the Fire Brigade 
which were of frequent occurrence, my brother and I 
were often invited to view them from Mrs. Bruce's 
windows. 

Chairs with cushions were carefully placed for us 
to kneel on, with our little bare knees, and smaller 
cushions made to fit the window sills were for our 
chins to rest on, as, with noses pressed against the 
glass, we joyfully awaited the music of the band. 
First, always came the policemen, wearing long dark 
blue double-breasted coats, with gilt buttons, fiat 
military caps upon their heads, and wooden night 
sticks dangling from their leather belts. 

These were followed by a line stretching from 
curb to curb of sappers and miners shouldering 
hatchets and wearing leather aprons and tall fur caps, 
and then, finest of all, the band, headed by such a 
Drum Major as no child could forget, his long baton 
finished with a shining ball flung high in the air and 
caught and twirled with a skill known only to him. 

And oh, the joy of seeing the City Troops, the 
Seventh Regiment of militia and the Zouaves in their 
Turkish costume of scarlet and blue and gold. 

The old Hand Brigade of the Fire Department 
was made up of companies of men who always at 
the sound of the fire bells left no matter what 
entertainment to join their comrades, bringing with 

83 



them water buckets made of leather, with rope 
handles, on which were painted in bright colors the 
initials of the owners. These men wore a costume 
including black trousers, red shirts, and helmets of 
glazed black leather with brims extending far behind 
over the shoulders, and in front a metal shield bearing 
the number of the fire company. In these parades the 
favored beaux were often seen carrying bouquets of 
the round stiff variety of the day, surrounded by a 
flounce of paper lace and tied with floating ribbons. 
Companies vied with one another in the floral decora- 
tions of their engines which were dragged over the 
cobble-stone by many men tugging at the long ropes, 
the burnished metal glistening in the sun. 

But of all the procession the charming vivandiere 
appealed to us most in her military costume consisting 
of a bright, braided jacket, short ample skirts, 
coming to her neat shoe tops, a scarlet cap on her 
head, and her little keg slung across her shoulder, 
under her arm. These girls were often the orphan 
daughters of former comrades, educated at the expense 
of the company at the best schools and carefully 
watched over. Under the Metropolitan Hotel on 
Lower Broadway was the first theater of which I 
remember to have heard, Niblo's Garden. Here we 
saw, the Ravels, a family of remarkable acrobats in a 
play called "Jocko, the Educated Ape" who delighted 
us with his antics, and here we first made the 
acquaintance of Pierrot and Columbine. 

84 



We were taken also to the Astor Place Opera House 
to hear Mario and Grisi ' ' so that we might say in 
after years that we had heard them." 

A few drives were finished in the new Central Park 
which was now first opened to the public, and month by 
month new beauties appeared, bridges, the mall with 
its rows of newly set out trees, rustic summer houses, 
groups of statuary presented by public spirited citizens, 
the beautiful lake on which a Venetian gondola was 
floating, and the fine stone terrace reached by a broad 
staircase at the foot of which played the great 
bronze fountain of Bethesda, representing "the Angel 
troubling the pool." The road surrounding the reser- 
voir became a favorite race track for my grandfather 
and me when his Kentucky thoroughbred and my pony 
went round it, as I then believed, at full speed. 
Houses were being rapidly built on Fifth Avenue, and 
it became the fashionable street for residences which 
lined either side. From Washington Square to Central 
Park not a place of business appeared for many years. 

One can truthfully say that no where in the world 
existed so long a street composed of residences of such 
a character. I remember being taken in the carriage to 
study my lessons, a means of keeping me in the open 
air, while my mother and Mrs. Mason returned their 
visits stopping at almost every house between Wash- 
ington and Madison Squares. The house of Mrs. John 
C. Green on the north side of Washington Square was 
a typical one of red brick with high white stone steps 

85 



and white trimmings. From Mrs. Green's Staten 
Island home we often received a small trunk filled 
with flowers and accompanied by loving messages, and 
it was a delight to watch the unpacking of the trays 
filled with all choice flowers. I wondered why my 
grandfather's conservatory opening out of the dining- 
room did not offer the same varieties, but he explained 
to me that only hardy plants such as azalias and 
camelias could bear the temperature of the house, 
for the drawing-room also opened into it. 

Kindergardens had not yet been introduced, but 
when it was thought time for me to go to school I 
was sent as a day scholar to Miss Gibson's Select 
School for Young Ladies, an establishment kept by 
three sisters of absolutely differing types. 

At our wooden desks, with lifting covers and 
small ink wells, we sat on wooden chairs, dos a 
dos, while down the aisles once a week walked the 
writing master, correcting our copy books with a 
large pencil, in the end of which appeared a jewel 
as big as the Kohinoor. As he leaned over the desks 
opposite to our own we thought it an unfailing joke to 
wipe our pens on the long coat tails temptingly within 
reach, for like the dancing master he always appeared 
in full evening dress. 

Lessons in those days were studied as irksome 
tasks and were not imparted in a way to give pleasure 
as in modern days. 

So, when the youngest Miss Gibson rang the bell 

86 



for recess it was always a welcome sound. Lunch 
backets were opened and special friends formed groups 
and exchanged goodies, for any other girl's lunch 
seemed always to taste so much better than our own. 

I can remember being sent out by the older girls 
to a near by cake shop— Dean's, to buy the sponge 
cake for which he is still, I believe, famous. This 
I thought an exciting adventure for I was never 
supposed to go into the street unaccompanied. 

Our summers were happily passed at my father's 
country home, Elm Spring, close to what is now Van 
Cortlandt Park. In the summer of 1908, the dear old 
stone house was still standing, unchanged in appearance, 
as I drove past it with my Aunt Charlotte and my 
Cousin Frances, when paying them a visit at their 
home in Yonkers. 

A new era seemed to begin when I reached the age 
of about fifteen, for at that time the nucleus of the danc- 
ing class afterwards known as the F. C. D. C. — Family 
Circle Dancing Class, was formed by a few ladies who 
wished to bring together the young people who would 
later meet in society. The first dance was given at the 
house of Mrs. Adrian Iselin, and I remember that I went 
to it rather reluctantly, little knowing how the first 
strains of the "Blue Danube," the attraction of having 
partners, and of being engaged for dances several 
weeks in advance would charm me and throw childish 
pleasures in the shade. 

On arriving, my shyness was not disminished by 

87 



finding that the other girls wore their hair turned up 
in older fashion, while mine was in two long braids 
which my brother called pig-tails. But such trifles 
were soon forgotten, for I was asked by my host to be 
his partner for the German, and after replying some- 
what ungraciously that I supposed I should have to— 
we laugh about it still— I entered fully into the spirit 
of the evening and enjoyed it to my heart's content. 

The following are a few of the members of the 
class whose names I recall, and it is perhaps natural 
that I remember those of my partners better than 
those of the other girls. There were Miss Iselin, 
afterward Mrs. DeLancey Kane, the Misses Hamersley, 
and their brother Hooker, Miss Beekman and her 
brothers, Florence Field, afterwards Mrs. John E. 
Parsons, Margaret Livingston, the Schemerhorns, the 
Richmonds, Johnston de Peyster, Robert Livingston, 
John Griswold, Frank Hollins, William Waldorf Astor, 
Gerald Hoyt, George Morgan, James J. Van Alen, 
and many others. My brother Theodore was not of 
the number, for he had already entered the Naval 
Academy. 

As the winter went on, and flowers and bon- 
bonnieres began to appear, it was evident to my family 
that I was thinking more of such things than of my 
studies, and when Mrs. Mason's health required her 
to visit a warmer climate, I accompanied her and my 
mother to the West Indies. 

In these days the islands were in their glory, 

88 



for the troubles with Spain had not become acute. 
Old Spanish customs prevailed, and life for the upper 
classes was one of luxury and easy-going enjoy- 
ment. 

We visited first the Island of Porto Rico, my 
mother's birthplace, which had changed but little 
since she left it, a little girl, to come to the 
United States with her parents and little brother, 
Alphonso, to be placed at school. 

We now visited the homes of Mr. George Lattimer, 
a business associate of my grandfather, Sidney Mason. 
At his house in San Juan, and on his plantation, 
San Isidro, he did all in his power to make the visit 
of the three American ladies agreeable, having, in 
anticipation of our coming, even sent to England for 
a pony carriage, which was put at our disposal. 

I well remember our arrival at Porto Rico, when, 
very early one beautiful morning, we cast anchor 
before the walls of San Juan. 

Small boats surrounded the steamer and swarms 
of dark figures, gesticulating and smiling, offered 
their services to row us ashore. Under the care of 
Mr. Lattimer, who had come out to the ship to meet 
us, we soon arrived at the stone steps leading from 
the water to the wharf. It was Sunday, and such a 
din of jangling bells as were ringing for mass from 
all the churches I have never since heard equalled. 
After a short drive we reached a large house almost 
overhanging the city wall. 

89 



It was built in Spanish fashion round a patio in which 
were bright flowers and a fountain. Against the wall 
in cages hung parrots with gay plumage whose cries 
mingled with the clamor of the bells. The long drawing 
room windows opened upon a gallery extending the 
length of the house, overlooking the bay. Below the 
wall, near the water stood my grandfather's old counting 
house of Mason & Thompson and across the water lay 
his plantation of Santa Catalina. 

This house, now known, I am told, as the Pink Palace 
was formerly the home of my grandfather and here my 
dear mother was born. As she looked about at well 
remembered objects many quaint memories revived, for 
here, down these very steps leading to the street, she 
used to go to school followed by her own little slave girl 
carrying her work bag. She sat beside the teacher on a 
small yellow chair and what was taught to one was 
taught to the other. In the cabinet at the National 
Museum may be seen beautiful drawn work made by 
the skillful fingers of the little slave, as well as 
samples worked by her young mistress. 

A miniature painted at this time shows a little bright 
eyed girl wearing a white dress and red shoes, holding 
out a rose which she seems to be offering to those who 
look at her. 

On Sundays, after mass, Catalina and her brother 
were often taken to pass the day at the palace of the 
Governor of the Island, a Spanish General related to 
their mother. On longer journeys, to the plantations, 

90 



the children were carried in panniers hanging on either 
side of a donkey or a pony. 

On the morning after our arrival we were greeted 
by one of the shocks of earthquake so common in those 
Islands. But it was so soon over that we were scarcely 
disturbed by the swaying of our beds under their long 
mosquito netting, and we did not see the people who 
rushed into the streets and fell on their knees in 
prayer. 

My mother's aunt, the Marquesa de la Esperanza 
gave a ball in our honor, at which she insisted on 
my being allowed to appear, though she regretted 
my youthful appearance, for I was to dance in 
the opening quadrille with a visiting foreigner of 
distinction, the eldest son of the Prince of Monaco. 
The house was an ideal one for a ball, and was 
considered the finest in San Juan. The rooms were 
of imposing size and height, the floors of marble, 
and outside the ball room was a loggia, between 
whose pillars and arches one looked out upon the 
sea. I have lately heard that the building is now 
used as a warehouse, and the only trace of former 
glories is seen in some fine wrought iron work over 
one of the doors, into which is introduced the coat of 
arms, surmounted by the coronet, of the original 
owners. 

We now went to Mr. Lattimer's plantation San 
Isidro where we greatly enjoyed the early morning 
rides, sometimes rising before dawn. The side-saddle 

91 



provided for me by our kind host was trimmed with 
red velvet and gold lace, and suggested the circus. — 
an example of native art that did not entirely please 
my taste; nor did I admire the arrangement of the 
furniture. To Mr. Lattimer's amusement and with 
his entire approval I rearranged everything according 
to our fashion in New York. But I afterwards 
learned that in so doing I had set at naught estab- 
lished West Indian custom. 

The house at San Isidro was placed on a com- 
manding point, over-looking miles of sugar plantations, 
the smoke of the refineries rising in the distance. It 
was approached by many steps and terraces covered 
with flowers. 

The morning glories, though perhaps not larger 
than those to which we are accustomed were far 
more beautiful, and the sensitive plant and the beef- 
eater were new and curious. We liked to flip our 
riding whips in the air to see the leaves of the former 
curl up, and the latter would close its flowers over 
bits of meat that were fed to it. 

But I disliked the pretty little lizards and often 
resigned to them inviting benches. 

The house, like a bungalow, had no upper story, 
simply an air space between ceiling and roof. One night 
I thought I heard mysterious footsteps over head. On 
learning in the morning that a large snake kept as a rat 
catcher inhabited the space, the complete enjoyment of 
my visit was henceforth marred. The heat of the day 

92 



on the plantation was passed indoors in shaded rooms, 
and refreshing drinks were served, made from the 
oranges, lemons and limes that grew in profusion 
round the house, bearing blossoms at the same time. 
A delicious salad was made from the heart of the palm 
tree, but to serve this dish, a tree had always to be 
sacrificed. 

In the evening, the slaves were often summoned 
from the Punta to dance for us on the terrace. 

They carried curious musical instruments shaped 
out of gourds. Grooves cut in them were scraped 
with bits of metal marking the time set by the bomba, 
a large drum. The women wore simple cotton dresses 
and bright colored turbans. The men wore little cloth- 
ing, and looked like bronze statues, reminding me of 
the natives that I saw at Honolulu on my journey round 
the world in 1906. The children wore little trunks 
made of coffee sacking and large pointed straw hats. 

All seemed strong and healthy and devoted to 
their master, who appeared kind to them, treating 
them to olives and cocoanut milk which seemed to 
delight them. The dances, as I remember them, 
seemed to be movements of the arms and body rather 
than the feet. 

I now said good bye to Porto Rico and sailed 
for Cuba with my mother, Mrs. Mason, and our faith- 
ful Sarah, who followed our footsteps for many years 
in many lands. After a few days on the steamer, 
we found ourselves on the wonderful blue waters of 

93 



the Carribean Sea, in the harbor of Santiago, under 
the walls of the Moro Castle so famous in the sum- 
mer of 1898 in our war with Spain. 

Every ship, on entering the harbor was challenged 
by a Spanish guard in uniform, who shouted his ques- 
tions through a long horn, that reminded me of the 
trumpets formerly carried by the New York firemen. 
This was repeated by other guards at every turning 
of the passage until the quaint city of Santiago lay 
before us against its background of blue sky and 
palm trees. 

We were greeted at the landing by our host, 
Don Jose Bueno y Blanco, a member of the Spanish 
Cortes. Quickly driven in two volantes to his 
house, we met his wife and daughters who were 
henceforth to be my life long friends. Silvanita 
married a nephew of Pope Pius IX, became 
Countess Pecci and went to Rome, where we often 
renewed our acquaintance in after years. The Bueno 
house stood on the corner of the street, opposite 
to the Cathedral, and, at the side was a large and 
beautiful garden. The wall around it was surmounted 
by an iron railing, and steps on the garden side led 
to the top, where we three girls— Silvanita, Letitia 
and myself— had infinite amusement in watching the 
people going in and out of the Cathedral. The 
long windows of the Cuban houses, through which 
much courting was done, were not glazed, but 
furnished with iron bars, inside of which were 

94 



wooden shutters, and curtains— but these were rarely 
drawn. The Cuban volantes were a charming novelty 
to me, with their two wheels, silver lamps and 
wide seat holding three persons, drawn by two hand- 
some yellow mules with many silver trappings. One 
mule was harnessed in the long shafts and led by 
the calesero seated on the other mule running by its 
side. The calesero was a pictureque figure wearing 
spurs and long boots coming well above the knee 
over the white breeches, a braided jacket with many 
buttons, and a wide brimmed pointed hat. 

There was no more attractive sight at sunset 
than that presented by the drive thronged with 
volantes, their tops thrown back, showing to advan- 
tage the three ladies who usually rode in them 
wearing flowing ruffled skirts, high combs, lace man- 
tillas fastened with a single rose, their dark eyes 
and brilliantly colored fans in eloquent motion. The 
state volantes were always placed in the entrance 
hall by the doorway which was flush with the street 
and built with an alcove for the purpose. 

Early in the morning delicious coffee was served 
in our rooms, an egg being dropped into the cup 
and beaten with a curiously fashioned stick. At noon, 
the family and their guests met at an elaborate 
breakfast at which friends often joined them inform- 
ally. Desserts, in the form of delicious little cakes 
and tarts were served from house to house by col- 
ored women, gaily dressed, bearing trays upon their 

95 



heads, covered with long, fringed, drawn -work nap- 
kins, and crying as they entered "iQuien quiere cosas 
dulces? " 

The hour of the siesta, between breakfast and 
the drive, was passed indoors or in the patio. The 
children at their lessons, the ladies in light attire 
gathering together with sewing or embroidery, for 
Spanish ladies are excellent needlewomen and make 
much of their own lingerie. 

On returning from the drive a supper or high 
tea was served after which visitors were received. 

The hostess usually sat between the windows on 
a cane sofa mounted in mahogany, while the guests 
sat in rocking chairs facing one another in two lines 
down the room. 

The lighting came usually from candelabra 
of massive silver furnished with thick wax 
candles protected by tall crystal shades, often three 
feet in height. These were placed on mahogany 
tables against the walls. The floors in the best 
houses, and often the walls, were of marble so 
fashioned that the hose could be played upon them. 

At about nine o'clock some one would ask the hostess 
if she were not going to the musica, when all would 
rise and stroll over to the public square. Servants 
would have gone before to place rugs and chairs, 
and there seemed to exist a sort of unwritten law 
by which people found themselves in certain recog- 
nized places night after night. A delightful hour was 

96 



now passed in the open air listening to the music 
of the band, walking- about, admiring the flowers and 
visiting other groups of friends. 

Dances were often given at the gentlemen's club 
or at private houses — people having ballrooms receiv- 
ing on certain nights. 

One of the entertainments arranged for us was 
an excursion to visit a number of sugar plantations 
belonging to friends of our host and hostess. 

Soon after sunrise one morning a party of about 
twenty ladies and gentlemen left Santiago mounted 
on horses, while a few, my mother among the number, 
preferred to drive in volantes. 

Arriving at the plantation long before noon we 
found every thing in readiness for us, and at the 
breakfast hour the merry party met, rested and 
refreshed. Chatting, dancing, and listening to music 
until the cool of the afternoon, then we would visit 
the plantation to see the sugar making. In the evening 
we had more music and dancing, tableaux-vivants, 
recitations and a very charming diversion called a 
melopea— the reciting of verses accompanied by music. 
This we once introduced with success at a musicale 
that we gave in New York for which Korbiel 
arranged the music of "Trovatore" to accompany 
Owen Meredith's poem "Aux Italiens." 

When we first arrived in Santiago we found the 
Spanish fleet at anchor, commanded by Admiral 
Mendez Nunez on his flagship, the historic "Almanca." 

97 



The officers, who had received many courtesies, 
had given a number of delightful dances on ship- 
board and now, the arrival of the three American 
ladies furnished a welcome excuse for giving another 
ball, this time in their honor. 

Possessing no long dresses at this time, a friend 
of my mother, who had visited us in "the States," 
sent me a white tarletan ball dress, made by her 
own fair hands and those of the needlewomen of her 
household. A light blue sash was worn across one 
shoulder in the manner of a decoration, and a wreath 
of small pink roses placed on one side of my head 
completed my toilet on the, to me, important occasion 
of appearing in my first long dress. It was a 
brilliant moonlight night when we found ourselves at 
the quay, where gaily decorated and cushioned boats 
were waiting to take us out to the flagship. Up a 
companionway, covered with bunting we mounted to 
the quarterdeck, which had been transformed into a 
scene of fairy-like beauty. 

A fountain threw water high into the air which 
fell back into a basin in which were sporting won- 
derful colored fish taken from the bay. Tropical 
birds were suspended in cages, and everywhere were 
palms, flowers and plants of every sort. 

In a two storied bower were stationed the ship's 
band and that of the Club, playing alternately. 
Between these bowers in colored lights, appeared the 
name "Cassie," and great was the pleasure of the 

98 



"Pollita Americana," as my Cuban friends called 
me, when taken on the arm of the Admiral to 
inspect this pretty compliment. My attention was 
also called to the music of a contra dansa then 
being played which had been composed and named 
"The Cassie " in my honor. It is an adaptation of 
the melody of Dixie, and my friends tell me it is 
still played in Cuba. Waltzes and polkas, in which 
I was continually lifted off my feet, followed one 
another in a mad whirl, while the Spanish Officers 
continued to present themselves as partners whose 
names I recognized years afterwards in our Spanish 
War at the end of the century. 

The Cuban climate proved of so much benefit to 
my grandmother, Mrs. Mason, that she returned for 
six weeks the following winter, taking me with 
her. 

This time, Cuba did not seem to me so foreign, 
for I had almost unconsciously learned to speak 
Spanish in the companionship of Silvanita and Letitia 
Bueno, whose daily lessons with French and Spanish 
professors I had shared. The older people spoke 
French or English fluently, for almost without excep- 
tion, they had been educated abroad. 

On our way to Santiago, the steamer touched at 
Manzanilla, where my fate unexpectedly awaited me 
in the person of Mr. Julian James who sat quietly 
fishing on the dock. On recognizing us, he at once 
boarded the ship, and I was struck with his 

99 



immaculate and attractive appearance, notwithstand- 
ing his very old coat and a Panama hat. 

He decided at a moment's notice to take our 
steamer, and after we reached Santiago, he joined, 
as often as he dared, the little party which he 
was always sure of finding in the old Bueno garden, 
or on the daily rides accompanied by the German 
governess. 

As he confided to me after our marriage, Julian 
always stationed his man where he could inform him 
as to the direction followed by the party on horseback 
and it sometimes took some maneuvering to be able 
to meet them coming at a decorous pace from an 
opposite direction. 

After six enchanted weeks, whose significance I 
scarcely realized, we sailed for home, a voyage of 
eleven days. Reaching the steamer on the morn- 
ing of our departure we found ourselves half buried 
in flowers and fruits, sent by our kind Spanish friends, 
who added birds in cages and even the horse I had 
been accustomed to ride, for which a stall on the 
ship had been built. But this last gift was returned 
with gracious thanks. The voyage was a rough one 
and many of the birds died, for we encountered a 
terrible gale; our state-rooms were flooded, and into 
them floated cages and parrots — but fortunately not 
the horse, which had been wisely returned. After 
putting in at Delaware Breakwater for coal and 
repairs, we arrived in New York in time to take 

100 



the train for West Point, in order to be present at 
the graduating exercises of the classes of 1868. The 
Army and the Navy received their diplomas together 
that year, and the two corps drawn up in dress 
parade, having just finished their competative drills, 
made a brilliant scene ; but the experiment was never 
repeated. 

My dress for these festivities was of white mus- 
lin over blue silk, my brother's class colors. The 
sailor hat was decorated with an anchor — his gift — 
and a pea jacket gave the final unmistakably naval 
stamp to the toilet I found prepared for me, at 
my brother's suggestion, by my darling mother. Now 
came my introduction to the beauties of West Point 
— not neglecting "flirtation walk." Warned by older 
heads against the danger of contracting the button 
fever, I translated the word into French and accepted 
it literally— at first. My card for the ball had been 
made out by my brother, the names of midshipmen 
and cadets alternating, and 'these young men were 
chosen with such care that they remained by life- 
long friends as well as my brother's. Well do I 
remember the button favor figure, when with buttons 
dangling from my dress in all directions I looked up 
and saw my friend Mr. James who had driven over 
from his father's country place at Cold Spring across 
the river. At that moment ended all fear of what 
I now understood to be the button fever, for I was 
much piqued that Mr. James did not ask me to 



dance— a wise stroke of diplomacy on his part, how- 
ever. From this evening dated his warm friendship 
with my brother whose admiration for Mr. James did 
that young man's suit no harm. 

On our return to New York I often rode in the 
park with my grandfather, when Mr. James began 
to join us after his Cuban fashion, often appear- 
ing from the opposite direction driving tandem or 
riding his spirited horse, Cragside. 

Later, we went to Saratoga and my grandfather's 
horses were sent up the river by boat as far as 
Hudson when they were driven and ridden by way 
of Mechanicsville and Ballston Spa. 

At Saratoga the favorite drive was to the Lake, 
with a visit to Moon's for cornucopias of spotless 
white paper filled with the wafer- like fried potatoes 
known as Saratoga chips, which were enjoyed and 
eaten from the paper, a glass of lemonade and 
two straws being served with them. Mr. James, as 
he afterward confessed, had taken rooms at the foot 
of the hill on which stood the Clarendon Hotel, 
where we were stopping, since the United States 
Hotel had been burned and not yet rebuilt. 

Tribes of genuine Indians, wearing a modified 
native dress, were a feature of many resorts in 
those days, and a walk to their camp, near Saratoga, 
was one of our amusements. Here could be bought 
colored baskets in all shapes and sizes, miniature canoes 
of birch bark, moccasins skillfully embroidered with 

102 



nils an lues. 

and purples. Small birch 
'.lining a moist ma 

pin cushions an<l I 
th shells and looking-glass all of 

rfaark ugliness not without charm. Th< 
Indian DOWI and arrows with which i>t at 

we all took tOMOlil in fan and basket ma 
A v itoga was rular 

railv. which two little cars a • rked by 

. 
it. nces at the summ< .ailed hop*, 

large ■ ball r 

at 01 if whirl. latforms f"r the m 

was tilled with a 

n advance from year t.> year, 
r with delight ' 
light nights on th- randas the 

• ing at 
.t delightful fetes 

r the win-: 
ild ha- 
th.- lrn uncertain. Many n-hta 
b«>lo- . i ht Club, of which my 
father was an early meml» 



Before the doors of the hotel every afternoon 
appeared a line of well mounted private carriages, 
ready to take their owners to "the Point." 

Among them were T carts and buggies for the 
bachelors, an occasional heavy family barouche, 
basket phaetons and dog carts. 

At this season of the year the foliage became 
brilliant with the famous autumnal tints seen to 
perfection in the trees that lined both banks of the 
river. 

On the fifteenth of September tents were furled, 
figuratively speaking, and there was a general exodus 
to New York, where schools were ready to open. 

In the evenings. Mr. George Bend had usually 
led the cotillions that were nightly danced by New 
York's younger set, and now came the last one of 
the season, at which, to my delight, I was for once 
allowed to dance, and my partner was Mr. James. 

The next morning I returned to Mrs. Blie's, whose 
school was attended by some sixteen young girls, 
among whom were the Misses Forbes, Schemerhorn, 
Gandy, Stone, Kane, Spencer, Griswold of Troy, and 
others, including my life-long friend, Mrs. Hyde. 

We girls formed also a singing class taught by 
George William Warren, the organist and composer, 
for so many years connected with St. Thomas Church 
at Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street. 

There were real American Beauties among these 
girls. One morning there was a flutter in this dove- 

104 



cote when Cassie arrived for school, in Mr. James' 
dog cart, their engagement having just been an- 
nounced. The marriage took place the following 
Spring. 



105 



J 



LIAN-JAMES 



33MAI-MAIJI. 



JULIAN JAMES 

1844-1870 

JULIAN, son of Julia and Frederick P. James, was 
born in New York on August 7th, 1844, in the 
summer cottage of his parents, just beyond 100th 
Street, overlooking the Hudson, on what is now 
known as the Riverside Drive, New York. 

His short life was filled with all the beauty and 
happiness with which fond parents and ample means 
could endow it, and he showed himself worthy of their 
care and affection. His friends bear witness to his 
high ideals, scholarly mind, wide reading, and love 
for all manly sports ; to his courage in positions of 
danger and trust, and to his popularity with his 
class in Columbia College, that of 1865, of which he 
was Vice-President. He was a graduate of the School 
of Mines. 

He was Second Lieutenant in the Fifth New York 
State Volunteers, and was on the Roll of Honor of 
the Seventh Regiment, with which he went to the 
Civil War. 

He was aide-de-camp to Brigadier General G. K. 
Warren, in which service he carried despatches through 
the lines, holding the papers in his teeth, and having 
a horse shot under him. His gallantry was praised 
in letters to his father by General Sherman and other 

107 



distinguished officers. He was invalided to Washington 
from General Warren's staff, and when able to return 
to his home, "Cragside," at Cold Spring, opposite to 
West Point, he took up his studies and was gradu- 
ated with his class, thus in two years accomplishing 
the work of four. After recovering from typhoid 
fever, through which illness he was tenderly nursed 
by his mother, he sailed, accompanied by a doctor, 
for the West Indies. 

Here he met Miss Cassie Mason Myers, who, 
with her grandmother, Mrs. Sidney Mason, was 
visiting Spanish friends in Cuba. 

On the 17th of June, 1869, at her grandfather's 
home, on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 18th Street, 
New York City, they were married by the Rev. Dr. 
Samuel Cooke, rector of St. Bartholomew's Church, 
then on the corner of La Fayette Place and Great 
Jones Street. 

The bridegroom's steam yacht, "Fire-fly," lay 
ready to take them up the Hudson to his father's 
estate, opposite to West Point, where, under the 
shadow of old "Crow's Nest,"' they passed a delight- 
ful summer. They were met at the station by Mr. 
James' man, Sam Smith, who, until his death in 
Washington, forty years later, most faithfully served 
Mrs. Julian-James and her parents. In the home in 
Washington Sam always delighted to serve the former 
friends of his young master, John Hay and Bishop 
Satterlee. 

108 



MRS. JULIAN -JAMES 



33MAI- HAIJIH .3HM 



At the home of Mr. James' parents, 400 Fifth 
Avenue, on the eve of his departure with his bride 
for the West Indies, he succumbed to an illness 
contracted during his service in the Civil War. He 
was placed in the James' family vault, at Cold Spring, 
where a chapel was later erected to his memory and 
that of his brother, Frederick. 

The following resolutions were adopted at a special 
meeting of members of his class in 1870 : 

Ultprraa. the hand of Death has removed from 
us our friend and classmate, Julian James, 

IRpsolbPi), That as fellow-countrymen, we mourn 
the loss of one who, as a soldier, gallantly devoted 
his best energies to the suppression of rebellion, 
in the arduous and self-sacrificing performance of 
which patriotic duty were sown the seeds of disease 
which caused his death. 

iKcBnlliril, That as warm friends and classmates, 
we grieve for one whose noble and generous character 
won the love, admiration and esteem of all who knew 
him, and in whom honor, virtue and manhood united 
to mark and grace a Christian gentleman. 

?Sp0ulbpi>, That, recognizing in his loss the hand 
of God, we tender his sorrowing family our deep and 
earnest sympathy. 

Lenox Smith 

William Gillman Low 

John Moore Heffernan 

Henry Rutgers Beekman 

Committee 



109 



On Fifth Avenue, one day when I was walking 
home from school, I saw passing me a dog-cart with 
a fair, handsome man and a very pretty young girl, 
my cousin Cassie and her future husband. 

Shortly after, one Sunday, they stopped at our 
home on their way from church. I remember how 
sweetly she looked, the rose in her hat just above 
the left ear, how brightly he talked, and how 
supremely happy they seemed, so well suited, one so 
dark, the other so fair. From time to time I saw 
them, and then came the wedding. How eagerly we 
anticipated it, how beautiful it seemed to us, my sister 
and me. 

Often I have stood beneath the memorial window 
in St. Bartholomew's Church, New York, and looked 
at his name, and thought of him whose life was so 
brief, whose memory has been so enduring. 

On the wall of the home in Washington hangs a 
painting which I admire more than almost any of my 
cousin's possessions— the portraits of a young girl and 
her lover. 

So I think of them together, though one I 
knew so slightly, the other has been an inspiration 
and a guide through life — and I know that some day 
I shall see them again together as they look out at 
me now from the picture on the wall. 

Frances Alice Jackson. 

July 26th, 1907. 



in 



MR- AND MRS. JULIAN-JAMES 
CRAGSIDE 
SPRING-ON- HUDSON 



COLD 



23MAL-MAIJUI .3HM 0H« .HM 

aaissAno 

HoaauH - wo - omflse ajoo 



SIDNEY MASON 



noaAM Yanaia 



JOHN MASON 



H02AM H HOI 



SIDNEY MASON 

1799-1871 

SIDNEY MASON, son of John Mason, was born 
October 22, 1799. He was a direct descendant of 
Captain Hugh Mason, who came to this country from 
Ipswich, England, in 1634, and settled in Watertown, 
now a part of Cambridge, Massachusetts, out of Boston. 
The old Mason house is still standing inside the 
grounds of Harvard College, and the tombstones 
marking the graves of Hugh Mason and of others of 
the family are the oldest in the Watertown burying 
ground. 

Hugh Mason's son Joseph, born in 1646, had a son 
Joseph, born in 1688 ; his son Josiah, born 1734, had a 
son John, born 1769, who was the father of Sidney 
Mason and his two brothers, Alphonso and John. 

Major John Mason, the father of Sidney Mason, 
the subject of this sketch, was prominently identified 
with the municipal affairs of Gloucester, Massachusetts. 

He had a strong will and striking traits of charac- 
ter which were inherited by his son Sidney. The latter 
at the age of twelve years, said to his father that he 
wished to be confirmed, and that he then thought it 
time he went to Boston in search of employment by 

113 



which he might be able to support himself. The boy's 
mother had died when he was a child and his father 
had married again. Obtaining his parent's consent, 
Sidney set forth on the stage coach, running between 
Gloucester and Boston, the driver of which took him to 
the office of one of the most prominent merchants in 
that city, and when asked what he would like to do, 
he replied that he would take any position they would 
give him. 

He was forthwith directed to polish the brasses, 
which he did with such good will that he remained in 
the employ of this firm for several years, promoted 
from time to time, and attaining an important clerk- 
ship, after which he went as super-cargo to the West 
Indies where he at last settled at San Juan, Porto Rico, 
in 1820. 

He was appointed United States Consul at San Juan 
during the administration of President Jackson, and 
continued in this service until 1835 when he returned 
to this country. A copy of the President's commis- 
sion to him as Consul at San Juan is now on file at 
the State Department in Washington. 

While residing in Porto Rico he married Marequita 
Benito Dorado, the daughter of Senor Don Jose Dorado 
and Senora Doria Catalina Dorado, who came from 
old Spain. 

Mrs. Mason was considered remarkable for her 
beauty, grace of manner, and charming, lovable dis- 
position. 

114 



MAREQUITA BENITO DORADO 
MRS. SIDNEY MASON 



OOAROa OTIM38 ATIUOJHAM 
H08 A M Y3MQI3 .8RM 



ALPHONSO SIDNEY MASON 



HOSAM V3MQI 3 08MOHqj> 



In 1835 Mr. Mason returned to America, bringing 
with him his wife and his two children, whom he 
wished to place at school. He fitted out one of his 
sailing vessels for this purpose and furnished it with 
all possible comforts. The voyage passed safely, but 
the harsh New England climate proved too severe for 
Mrs. Mason— a delicate tropical flower transplanted. 
She survived it but a short time, dying at Gloucester, 
Massachusetts, where she is buried. A monument to 
her memory bears her name and that of her little son, 
Alphonso Sidney, who died at the age of twelve 
years when at school in New York. 

After the death of his young wife, Mr. Mason 
gave up all business interests and placing his little 
daughter Catalina in the Convent of Mount Benedict, 
Charlestown, Massachusetts, and his son Alphonso 
Sidney, at Peugnet's then famous school for boys in 
New York, set forth on an extended tour of Europe. 
In London he caused to be built for his use a traveling 
carriage which could be transported over the mountain 
passes on the backs of mules ; for traveling was 
then less easy, though much more picturesque than 
now. Several years were passed in restlessly going 
from place to place through Germany, France, Switzer- 
land, Spain and Italy, until the sad news of the death 
of his only son brought him to America once more. 

He arrived to learn of a second loss, that of his 
brother Alphonso, who had hastened to New York on 
news of his nephew's illness and in returning to 

115 



Boston went down on the ill-fated steamer, "Lexing- 
ton." Upon Mr. Mason's return to the United 
States, he took up his residence in New York, and 
removing- his daughter from Miss Willard's famous 
school in Troy, he placed her at the Misses McClen- 
nachan's, not far from his home, which he now 
established at Number 3 College Place. 

The house was filled with old furniture and 
beautiful pictures brought from Europe, also portraits 
painted by Anelli of his wife, with a rose in her 
hair which accentuated her Spanish beauty to perfec- 
tion; another, of his charming little dark eyed boy 
whom he had lost ; one of the father of his wife 
in court dress and decorations, and he also possessed 
a rare library. These treasures made his home one 
of the most attractive at that time in the city. He 
was exceedingly fond of horses, and a fine whip, 
as well as an accomplished rider. He was to be 
seen daily on horse-back, and later became one 
of the well known figures on the bridle-paths in 
Central Park, in whose laying out by Olmsted he 
was much interested. 

Mr. Mason's second wife was Miss Catherine 
Gartz Robb, of Warrenton, Virginia, a schoolmate 
of his daughter, and a beautiful and accomplished 
girl. Shortly after the marriage of his daughter 
Catalina to Mr. Theodorus Bailey Myers, of New 
York, Mr. Mason purchased and removed to the 
house No. 132 Fifth Avenue, next the northwest 

116 



DON JOSE DORADO 



oaAHoa 33oi, Hoa 



CATHERINE GARTZ ROBB 
MRS. SIDNEY MASON 



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corner of 18th Street, which was then becoming a 
most desirable part of the city. The house, which 
was built of white marble, became in later years a 
landmark, when the adjoining property on the corner 
of 18th Street was added and the house enlarged by 
the building of a library, billiard-room and conserva- 
tory. Mrs. Mason, who was devoted to music, 
had a sweet voice, and the house was for many 
years a center for lovers of music. She formed a 
singing class taught by Albitez comprising the amateur 
talent of the day, and Mr. Mason was one of the 
first to have a box at the Opera, then situated at 
Astor Place. 

His home was always one of hospitality where 
his friends, as well as foreigners of distinction who 
brought letters of introduction, were entertained. 

He was one of the oldest members of the Union 
Club, then at the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue 
and 21st Street, but he made but one visit to it in 
the course of a year. This occasion was New Year's 
Day on which he walked through the rooms, wishing 
his many friends "A Happy New Year," paid his 
yearly dues, and walked out, not to appear again for 
another twelve month. He would then remark that 
he had done his duty to clubdom, and that he pre- 
ferred to have his evening game of billiards at home. 

The appointments of his house were considered 
quite perfect. At that time the household included a 
chef, Maillard, a brother of the famous confectioner 

117 



of that name, whose establishment still flourishes 
under the Fifth Avenue Hotel, on Broadway and 
Madison Square, between 23rd and 24th Streets. 

There were also a French maid, a butler, Georges 
Lecaiatel, and his wife, who remained in Mr. Mason's 
service for thirty years, a laundress, coachman and 
footman. 

The house stood back from Fifth Avenue, with a 
garden in front enclosed with a high railing finished by 
spear heads, inside of which were a hedge and trees, 
giving it the appearance of a villa. While the interior 
was filled with works of art, and beautiful furniture, 
some of which was made of mahogany from Porto 
Rico, and grown on his plantation— Santa Catalina, 
San Juan, and fashioned from designs selected during 
his visits to Europe. At the rear of the house was 
built a model stable where were kept his well known 
cream colored horses, Fanny and Kate, his Arabian 
saddle horse, Count, which he brought from the West 
Indies, his daughter's saddle horse, Duke, and a white 
pony, Billy, which his brother, John Mason, of 
Philadelphia, had imported from Porto Rico and which 
served as a saddle pony to the grandchildren. 

In his daily rides, first with his daughter, and later 
with his grandchildren, Cassie Mason Myers and 
Theodorus Bailey Myers Mason, he was often joined by 
his friend George Bancroft, the historian, or by Mr. 
Olmsted. 

Mr. Mason was much interested in the development 

118 



HOME OF SIDNEY MASON 

130 FIFTH AVENUE 

NEW YORK 



H03AM Y3MQia TO 3MOH 

3UM3VA H-MI1 OET 

"HOY W3M 



of the Metropolitan Museum for so many years housed 
in a brown stone building on West 14th Street. He 
was devoted to his home, his wife, daughter and grand- 
children, as well as to his son-in-law, Theodorus Bailey 
Myers. He passed several summers in a cottage in the 
grounds of the United States Hotel at Saratoga, and at 
Sharon Springs, thus giving up the summer home on 
Staten Island. 

Mr. Mason was for many years President of the 
Sixth Avenue Railway — the first street railway inaugu- 
rated in New York. Its cars were at first drawn by 
mules, then by horses, and much later by electricity. 
On retiring from this position, Mr. Mason was suc- 
ceeded by his son-in-law, Theodorus Bailey Myers, 

For seventeen years Mr. Mason was a Director in 
the National Fire Insurance Company, as well as in the 
Manhattan and Home Companies, a Director of the 
Leather Manufacturers Bank and a prominent member 
on the Boards of many public institutions. 

Although possessed of a strong character, and 
somewhat stern manner,— he rarely smiled, — Mr. Mason 
inspired the warm attachment of many friends, and 
having won a reputation for remarkably good judg- 
ment, his advice was often sought. 

The intrinsic kindness of his nature was shown 
in his love for children and animals, and in the 
confidence he always inspired. He was able to 
control the most restless horses, and many who were 
children then, still remember with pleasure the rides 

119 



he gave them in his sleigh when driving his four 
bay horses decked with the solid silver bells having an 
unusually musical sound, which had been presented to 
him by a Spanish friend. The sleigh was usually full to 
overflowing for he always found "room for one more." 

His granddaughter, Mrs. Julian-James, recalls a 
never-to-be-forgotten incident of her childhood which 
illustrates one of her grandfather's most striking 
traits,— his business integrity. 

It was his strict rule to allow nothing to be worn 
in his family until paid for. In those days, it was 
the custom to wear new spring clothes for the first 
time on Easter Sunday, and the small Cassie had a 
beautiful hat selected with loving care by her mother 
and her "Mamma Mason" at Genning's, the fashion- 
able milliner's far down on Broadway. Late on 
Saturday afternoon the hat arrived, and the little 
girl carried it with expectant pride to be admired by 
her grandfather. To her dismay, he at once inquired 
for the bill, and when a search for it in the box 
proved fruitless, his face became grave, and the 
following dialogue ensued: 

"Missy, — do you intend to wear that hat to 
church to-morrow?" 

"Why, yes, papa Mason." 

"And how will you feel when Mr. Genning 
looks at you as you sit in the pew and says to 
himself, 'The hat that that young lady is wearing 
belongs to me.' " 



1 20 



THE SLEIGHING PARTY 

MR. AND MRS.. SIDNEY MASON 

MR. AND MRS. THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS 

AND THEODORE 



YTRAS OHIHOI3J3 3HT 
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The child pondered for a moment, and then, 
conquering her bitter disappointment she replied with 
an air of resolution which mightily pleased her grand- 
father, "I do not care to wear Mr. Genning's hat 
— I will wear my old one." 

On Monday morning the little girl was invited by 
her grandfather to accompany him, with her nurse, 
Adeline, on his way down town. Children delighted 
to ride in the lumbering Fifth Avenue omnibus, 
drawn by horses over the jolting cobble stone pave- 
ment, and little Cassie enjoyed the treat till they 
drew up at Genning's store, under the old Metropolitan 
Hotel. 

On entering, Mr. Mason observed a delighted 
expression on his granddaughter's face as she gazed 
at a little imported pink silk parasol displayed in the 
window. He went to the desk, and making it well 
understood that in future all bills were to be sent with 
the purchases, he asked to see the pink parasol, and 
having its price added to the bill for the hat, he 
paid for both and handed the parasol to the child, 
who remembers her delight to this day, as well as 
the wholesome lesson thus taught. 

The return home in another rumbling omnibus 
was a still more blissful progress. 

In those days omnibuses were decorated in the 
fashion of the time with small oil paintings over the 
windows and on the panel of the swinging door, 
which the driver controlled by a strap attached to his 

121 



foot. These pictures, probably inspired by the decora- 
tion of court carriages and sedan chairs in olden days, 
were often painted by artists of merit, as pot-boilers, 
in the beginning of their careers. They filled the 
spaces now occupied by advertisements — a doubtful 
improvement on the little landscapes with their blue 
skies, purple mountains, placid lakes and inevitable 
boats with white sails faithfully reflected, and the 
white and scarlet and black daubs of paint which 
represented the inhabitants of these rustic scenes. 

On the 8th of May, 1871, at his home, 130 Fifth 
Avenue, New York, Sidney Mason's useful, varied, 
and successful life of seventy -two years came to 
an end. 

The funeral services were conducted by the Rev. 
Dr. Cook, of St. Bartholomew's Church, of which Mr. 
Mason and his family had long been parishioners. 

He was carried to Greenwood, where he lies in 

the Mason mausoleum on Dale Water Lake, Greenwood 

Cemetery, New York. 

Helen Mason 



122 



THEODORUS BAILEY 



Y3JIA8 8UROQ03HT 



GENERAL THEODORUS BAILEY 

GENERAL THEODORUS BAILEY, son of Lieu- 
tenant Colonel John Bailey and his wife, Altie 
Van Wyck, was born in Peekskill, New York, on 
October 12, 1758. Theodorus was a family name, it 
having been borne by members of the Van Wyck 
family since the marriage of the Reverend Johannis 
Theodorus Polhemus and Anna, daughter of Cornelius 
Van Wyck, in 1654. Dr. Polhemus was the first 
minister of the Dutch Reformed Church on Long 
Island. 

At the age of twenty the young Theodorus was 
Adjutant of the fourth Regiment Dutchess County 
Militia, his commission being dated May 28, 1778, and 
he was again commissioned on promotion to the First 
Regiment, October 10, 1779. Soon after the war ended 
he was elected a Representative and served in the 3d, 
4th, 6th and 7th sessions of the Federal Congress, 
1793-'97; 1799-1803. In 1800- '01, he is said to have 
been carried to the House of Representatives, being ill, 
to cast the deciding vote of the New York delegation 
which prevented the election of Aaron Burr and sub- 
sequently brought about that of Jefferson. 

123 



In 1803 he was elected United States Senator — but 
after a year's service at Washington he resigned to 
accept the office of Postmaster of New York City, in 
which position he remained until his death September 
6, 1828. A writer in the Commercial Advertiser, who 
evidently knew the Postmaster, speaks of him as 
"having no enemies and many friends." 

He married three times. First, Elizabeth Hoffman, 

who had four children ; second, Rebecca Tallmadge, 

who had three ; and third, Martha McWhorter, who had 

but one child. Of these eight children, one died on the 

coast of Africa, one in the Feejee Islands, while a 

third was lost, with his wife, on the ill-fated 

"Lyonaise." Three children left descendants : Captain 

James Bailey, United States Army, who married Miss 

Hoster ; Ann Eliza, who married Arthur Bronson ; 

and Catharine Rebecca, who became Mrs. William 

Cecil Woolsey. 

Katharine Mimmack 



124 



REAR-ADMIRAL T H E O D O R LI S BAILEY 



Y3JIAB 3UHOQ03HT J A R I M Q A - fl A 3 O 



REAR-ADMIRAL THEODORUS BAILEY 

REAR-ADMIRAL THEODORUS BAILEY was the 
son of Judge William Bailey and Phoebe Piatt, 
his wife, and was born in Chateaugay, New York, on 
April 12, 1805. He was named for his uncle, General 
Theodorus Bailey. He received his early education 
at the Plattsburg Academy. The excitement caused 
by McDonough's great victory over the British fleet 
at Plattsburg, in 1813, turned his mind to the naval 
service as a future career. In 1818 he became a 
midshipman and saw his first service off the coast of 
Africa, later visiting every quarter of the globe. In 
seven years, between 1828 and 1835, he went around 
the world twice. In the interval between these voyages 
he married his cousin, Sarah Ann Piatt, on June 
the 23d, 1830, 

His first independent command was that of the 
"Lexington," at the beginning of the Mexican War. 
Among the officers he conveyed to the scene of action, 
by the long route around Cape Horn, were Tecumseh 
Sherman, Edward Ord and Henry W. Halleck, who later 
in life distinguished themselves as Civil War generals. 
On this voyage his nephew, Algernon Sidney Myers, 
accompanied Captain Bailey, as his secretary. 

125 



From 1853 to 1855 Captain Bailey commanded the 
U. S. S. "Saint Mary's", in the Pacific, being con- 
stantly in diplomatic negotiation with the South 
American countries and the Islands of the Pacific. 

The best known incident of Admiral Bailey's career 
is connected with the taking of New Orleans, under 
Farragut, during the Civil War. He was second in 
command, but came near being left behind owing to 
an illness which the doctors reported would render 
it dangerous for him to exert himself. He refused to 
abide by their decision, however, and as his flagship, 
the "Colorado", drew too much water for the Missis- 
sippi at that place he accepted Captain Harrison's offer 
of the "Cayuga". On the night of April 24th, 1862, 
the little gunboat, practically unsupported, steamed off 
far ahead of the heavier and more awkward vessels, 
made its way up the river, escaping fire rafts, batteries 
and a flotilla of gunboats, being struck forty-two times. 
The other ships followed later, and on the 25th the 
fleet anchored in front of New Orleans. Captain Bailey 
and his Lieutenant, George H. Perkins, were landed 
from a small boat to demand the surrender of the 
city. Amid a murderous crowd, with pistols, knives 
and guns shaken in their faces, they walked calmly 
to the City Hall, feeling that each breath was in all 
probability their last, and interviewed Mayor Monroe 
and General Lovell. 

For his distinguised bravery on this occasion he 
was given command of the Eastern Gulf Blockading 

126 



Squadron, where he proved exceptionally efficient, and 
interested himself in matters on shore as well as on 
sea. It happened that the church at Key West was 
Episcopal and had a loyal rector but secessionist 
vestrymen, who voted themselves in year by year. 
The Admiral hearing of this, assembled his offi- 
cers (it being a free church, giving all who attended 
the right to vote) and marched them to the annual meet- 
ing the first Monday after Easter, to the great chagrin 
of the secessionists who had assembled to vote each 
other in. For that year the rector had a loyal vestry. 
In 1864 yellow fever visited the fleet with terrible 
mortality, and after a severe attack the admiral was 
transferred to the command of the Navy Yard at 
Portsmouth. His last years were passed in Washing- 
ton, and he died February 10th, 1877. He had never 
known fear or favor, was just, generous, humorous 
and deservedly one of the most popular men in the 
service. He had five children ; Anna, who married 
Walter R. T. Jones ; Theodora ; Sarah, who married 
T. Salter Tredick ; Margaret ; and Edmund Smith, who 
married first, Mary McKnight, and second, Susan Kirk- 
land. 

Katharine Mimmack 



127 



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THE CATHEDRAL CLOSE 
PEACE CROSS AND SUN-DIAL 
CATHEDRAL OF ST. PETER AND ST. 
WASHINGTON. D. C. 



PAUL 



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CATALOGUE 

TO THE 

CABINET OF HEIRLOOMS 

AT THE 

NATIONAL MUSEUM 
WASHINGTON 






THE MYERS-MASON COLLECTION. 

A COLLECTION of historical costumes, ornaments 
of personal wear, and articles of the toilet, 
worn and used by the Bailey, Myers and Mason 
families from 1812 to 1900. 

Costumes made in the United States, France, Spain 
and Porto Rico, and worn by Mrs. Sidney Mason, 
born Senorita Dona Maraquita Dorado, and her 
daughter, Mrs. Theodorus Bailey Myers, in Porto 
Rico. 

Service to their country is represented by : 

Court dress worn by Sidney Mason, United States 
Consul at San Juan, Porto Rico, 1820-1835. 

Sword carried by Major Myers, United States 
Army, dm-ing campaign on the Niagara frontier, 
War of 1812. 

Sword of Colonel Theodorus Bailey Myers, United 
States Volunteers— son of Major Myers — used during 
the Civil War, 1861-1865. 

Sword of Lieutenant-Commander Theodorus Bailey 
Myers Mason, United States Navy ; worn during active 
service, 1864 1894. He was the son of Colonel Theo- 
dorus Bailey Myers and a great-nephew of Commodore 
Theodorus Bailey, United States Navy, who under 
orders from Admiral Farragut, received the surrender 
of New Orleans, Louisiana, May 1, 1862. 

Lent by Mrs. Theodorus Bailey Myers and 
her daughter, Mrs. Julian-James. 



131 



MAJOR M. MYERS 

UNITED STATES ARMY 



No. 



Sword, silver mounted, used during the War 

of 1812 2076 

Shoe buckles 2032 

Masonic relics : 

Jewel and red ribbon of Past Grand Master 243 
Apron of Past Grand Master 244 

Writing desk, mahogany, brass bound, used 
during the War of 1812 

White and gold plates, cup and saucer, a por- 
tion of a service of thirty covers belonging 
to Major Myers and to his wife, Charlotte 
Bailey 2063 

Book, Reminiscences, 1782-1814 



THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS. 

Service sword United States Army, used dur- 
ing the Civil War 2077 

Signet ring, T. B. M. ornamented by mermaid 4533 

Gold badge of Fire Commissioner and report 

of Fire Department 4486 

Gold and black enameled sleeve links, T. B. M. 

New York Yacht Club buttons of the year 1852 4544 

Staff buttons and eagles 2038 

Purse with gold rings knit by his wife, 

Catalina Juliana Mason 2042 

Bronze medal (in case) endowed by a fund 
contributed by James Gordon Bennett, Mr. 
Myers and Mr. Hone, Trustees 4487 

'33 



No. 

Book plate of his collection of Americana 2036 

Ring of the Honorable Theodorus Bailey, 
United States Senator, 1803, who was 
also first Postmaster of New York 246 

Three section spy glass used at the battle of 
New Orleans by Captain Theodorus Bailey, 
United States Navy 4531 

Book, History Set Right 4355 

MRS. THEODORUS BAILY MYERS 
n£e Catalina Juliana Mason. 



Silver pap-bowl (bread and milk) 


4537 


Mull dress 


1986 


Mittens 


1988 


Pearl fan 


1989 


High comb 


1991 


White veil 


1992 


Gold necklace, and 


2046 


Bracelets or sleeve links 


2047 


Pin containing hair of little brothers, Alphonso, 
Sidney. 




Sampler worked by Catalina when at school in 
Porto Rico. 


2075 


Drawn work made by her maid, Iona, a 
native of Porto Rico 


2072 


Crochet work by Iona 


2075 



Prayer book bound in blue velvet 

Gold enameled miniature watch, black case, 
marked with mermaid and letter M., gift 
from her father-in-law, Major Myers, 4384 

134 



No. 

Agate bracelet and locket 4356 

Pin with the name of Cassie in diamonds, 

rubies, and sapphires, 4346 

Silver bouquet holder, received from her hus- 
band with her wedding bouquet. 2052 

Mosaic bracelet 2063 

Gold thimble 2048 

Light amber tortoise shell opera glasses, inlaid 

with gold 4354 

Light tortoise shell comb with wings 4357 

Light yellow shell lorgnette with monogram, 
brought for his mother by Commander 
Theodorus Bailey Myers Mason, 4364 

Pair of gold earrings 4564 

Tortoise shell ear trumpet and glasses com- 
bined. 4363 

Gold chatelain bag with gold hook, containing 

handkerchief and card 4361 

Gold card case 

Gold belt buckle 4360 

Mosaic sleeve buttons 4366 

India shawl 4368 

India shawl 4369 

India shawl 4372 

The following articles are in a hunk not to be 
opened for fifty years 

Parasol with tortoise shell handle, carved 

monogram "C. J. M." black lace cover 4373 

Fan painted on parchment 2997 

Chinese crape shawl 1998 

135 



No. 
Blue silk slippers embroidered by Mrs. Myers 

for her daughter in 1869 2066 

Black satin slippers, rhinestone buckles 2008 

Hair net interwoven with gilt crystals 2009 

Crystal hair ornaments 2010 

Gilt combs 

Lavender silk from part of Mrs. Myers' 

trousseau, 1847 1993 

Mull tucker and sleeves 1994 

Apron, green silk and black lace 1995 

Silk dress, plum colored, made by Worth, of 

Paris, and worn 1870 2007 

Gray satin and lace tea gown, worn 1905 4383 

Black mittens, velvet wristlets 2079 

LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER 

THEODORUS BAILEY MYERS MASON 

Service sword, worn 1858-1886 2078 

Christening robe 1999 

Baby's bottle 2000 

Baby's cap 2002 

Baby's shirt 2003 

Diamond pin, name "Theodorus," with his hair 

Hat band of the ship he loved, the "New 

York" 4347 

Scarf pin, jade intaglio 4348 

Two small silver fouled anchors 4539 

One embroidered star i From his 4540 

One gold cap cord j- midshipman's 4541 

One belt buckle and button J uniform 4542 

136 



CASSIE MASON MYERS JULIAN-JAMES 

No. 

Christening robe worn in 1853 2005 

Pearl and diamond necklace and locket, with 
miniature of Julian -James, in white velvet 
case, gold monogram "C. M. M."and date 
"1868" 4350 

Silver cup, marked " Cassie Mason," from her 

uncle John Mason 4535 

Scotch mull box 4532 

Gold opera glasses, diamond monogram 4353 

Gold and silver belt buckle with rhinestones 4380 

Gold bracelets, onyx with diamond letters, 
given to Cassie by her mother, June 17, 1869 

Miniature watch, with bow-knot pin encrusted 

with diamonds 4349 

Little gold thimble 

Roman fork 1987 

India shawl, wedding gift of T. B. Myers to 

his daughter 4370 

Parasol with ivory handle, on which is gold 

monogram " C. M. M.," black lace cover 4374 

Chatelaine bag, glass beads, silver mounted 4376 

Carved amber tortoise shell card case 4377 

Chinese palanquin pin 4379 

Long gloves 1908 

White satin slippers and white silk stockings 2013-2014 

White velvet bonnet, 1880 2016 

Light tortoise shell crescent comb, brought 

from Japan by T. B. M. M. to his sister 4358 

137 



No. 

Dress of lace work on pinia (pineapple) cloth 
made in Spain in duplicate of one made 
for and worn by Isabella 2nd, Queen of 
Spain ; imported to Porto Rico for Mrs. 
Sidney Mason ; worn in 1889 by her grand- 
daughter, Mrs. Julian -James, in Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

Two beaded hand satchels worked by Mrs. 
Sidney Mason, 2d. 

Dress of white watered silk, made by Worth, of 
Paris. Worn in 1870. The very old Rose 
Point de Venise with which the dress was 
trimmed, was willed by Mrs. Sidney Mason, 
2d, to Mrs. Julian-James, who donated 
it, together with her mother's, Mrs. Theo- 
dorus Bailey Myers, wedding veil of white 
Chantilly and her own shawl of point lace 
applique, worn as her wedding veil, to 
the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New 
York 2012 

JULIAN JAMES, 

Second Lieutenant Company D, Fifth New York 

Volunteers, Aide-de-camp to General 

Warren, United States Army. 

Naval night-glass used on his yacht, "Fire 

Fly" 4530 

Ebony box 2021 

Handkerchief 2022 

Gloves 2023 

Necktie 2024 

Pair of sardonyx cuff buttons, mounted in gold 
monogram "J.J." cut on stone 

His slipper when a baby 2026 

138 



SIDNEY MASON, 

When Consul From The United States To 
Porto Rico, 1829. 

No. 

Sword with mother of pearl inlaid handle 1959 

Chapeau 1957 

Coat 1956 

Trousers 1955 

Handkerchief 1958 

Gold Watch with miniature of his wife, Mari- 
quita Dorado (between the two cases which 
can be opened with point of pin). Mer- 
maid engraved on case 4351 

Watch, chain and locket, turquoise 

Gold watch chain with slides 

Ivory handled sword cane 1962 

Gold single eye glass 

Stick pin, topaz and turquoise 2059 

Gold mounted snuff box made from a rafter 
that supported the roof of the Hall of 
Independence, July 4, 1776. Presented to 
Sidney Mason by George Plitt. 

Apron of Master Mason 

Gold mounted purse 1961 



139 



MRS. SIDNEY MASON, 1st 

NEE MARIQUITA DORADO 

No. 

Split wedding ring 

White satin ball dress embroidered in gold, 

from Porto Rico (when Miss Benito Dorado) 1964 

Slippers and Stockings 1965 1966 

Fan, pearl sticks and feathers 1967 

Handkerchief 1968 

Tortoise shell Spanish comb with gold 2054 

Lace mantilla and gold pins 1971-2053 

Opera glasses of gold, in case 1973 

Ivory card case 

Gold chain, topaz cross 1975 

Gold chain bracelet topaz 

Gold and topaz earrings and pin 2056 

Thimble 2048 

Gold belt buckle 

The following articles are in a trunk not to be 
opened for fifty years 

Walking dress 1977 

Silk embroidered stockings to match 1981 

Parasol of white satin, embroidered 1983 

Gold cross with hair 2062 

ALPHONSO SIDNEY MASON. 

Silver mug 4538 

Child's suit of silver gray satin 1984 

Ivory castinets used when dancing with his 

little sister Catalina 1990 

140 



DON JOSE DORADO and his wife, 

Mother and Father of Mrs. Sidney Mason, 1st 

No. 

Cut glass pitcher and bowl 2055 

Silver pitcher and bowl 11244 

Carved cane 2165 

Two foreign decorations, miniature cross of the 

Legion of Honor 4534 

One Spanish scabbard 4535 

Gold square single eye glass with long gold 
chain (strong enough, it is said, to hang 

a man) with gold slides 4352 

String of carved jet beads 4359 

Hair belt with silver clasp 2017 

Carved cocoanut bowl 2071 

Pin containing hair 4485 



MRS. SIDNEY MASON, 2nd 

nee Catherine Gartz Robb 

Blue Bohemian cut glass vase engraved with 
portrait of Mrs. Sidney Mason. 

Red Bohemian cut glass vase engraved with 

portrait of Sidney Mason 2067 

The following articles were given by Mrs. Mason 
to Mrs Julian-James 

Gold Mandolin watch inlaid with pearls, with 
gold chain and little key in old case, said 
to have belonged to Marie Antoinette 4378 

India shawl 4371 



141 



THEODORUS BAILEY, 
United States Senator. 

Ring with hair and gold monogram. 



THEODORUS BAILEY, 
Rear Admiral United States Navy. 

Spy glass, in three sections. 



142 



